Biden to tout ‘Bidenomics’ in Maine as US economy grows, inflation falls
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US President Joe Biden is travelling to Maine to lay out his economic case for a second term.
PHOTO: EPA-EFE
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WASHINGTON – US President Joe Biden headed to Maine on Friday, his first trip to the state since winning the White House, to lay out the economic case for a second term, highlight a woman-owned local factory and celebrate new inflation and growth numbers.
Mr Biden will visit and make remarks at Auburn Manufacturing, a company that produces heat- and fire-resistant fabrics primarily with domestic-made materials.
He will also issue an executive order that will boost incentives to manufacture new publicly funded inventions domestically.
Mr Biden’s trip comes amid a wave of favourable economic news.
US annual inflation slowed considerably in June,
US gross domestic product grew by 2.4 per cent in the second quarter, defying recession fears, and consumer confidence is at a two-year high.
“He’ll discuss how Bidenomics is revitalising American manufacturing and bringing investments,” White House spokesman Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters on Thursday.
“Big investments, investments that many cities haven’t seen before, as it relates to jobs, as it relates to making sure we are making things in America again,” she added.
Auburn, population 24,000, is located in Maine’s 2nd congressional district, which covers 80 per cent of the state’s land mass and is the only district in New England that voted for Donald Trump in 2020.
It is more conservative, rural, white and working class than the state’s only other congressional district, which includes coastal cities and towns.
Several Democratic members of the US House of Representatives met at the White House on Friday to discuss implementing the US$1 trillion (S$1.33 trillion) infrastructure Bill that Mr Biden has signed into law.
A top House Democratic leader, Mr Steny Hoyer, told reporters afterwards that 37,000 projects are under way, funded by the legislation.
“What we did is working in every part of the economy,” he said.
Maine is one of just two states – the other is Nebraska – that award an electoral vote to the winner of each congressional district, in addition to the two electoral votes that go to the winner of the statewide popular vote. REUTERS
