President Biden’s first State of the Union address highlighted the need to increase domestic manufacturing to fight higher prices of goods and cited the coordinated actions of the U.S. and its allies in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday.
The Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation measure climbed 5.2 percent in January, the highest since April 1983. Biden said domestic production of semiconductors and automobiles should be ramped up and the country’s bridges and roads should be rebuilt to counter inflation.
“Economists call it ‘increasing the productive capacity of our economy.’ I call it building a better America,” the president said.
He cited the passage of the COVID-19 relief measure and bipartisan infrastructure bill in 2021 and called on Congress to introduce bills that would reduce the price of electric vehicles and provide investments and tax credits to help weatherize businesses and homes as part of efforts to cut energy costs.
Biden announced that the U.S. would ban all Russian flights from entering U.S. airspace and form a task force within the Department of Justice to pursue Russian oligarchs as part of additional economic measures against Russia.
