MILWAUKEE, Wis. — President Joe Biden was back in battleground Wisconsin Wednesday, making an economic pitch for middle America and the middle class.
TMJ4'S Charles Benson talked with NBC's Moderator of Meet the Press Chuck Todd about this week's big stories.
President Biden talked with union workers at a training facility in DeForest, just north of Madison, hitting on themes from his State of the Union Speech Tuesday night.
The President calls his plan a blue-collar blueprint for America.
Is he trying to retool or tweak the party's appeal to the working class with his agenda?
"Yes," said Todd. "And I also think he's trying to send the message that not only talk to the base of his own party that says, 'Hey, you know, focus more on these economic issues and a little less than some of the social issues,' because it's certainly taking away the focus on what is sort of improving life for working Americans."
Just look at Wisconsin to see why the President is pivoting to make a stronger appeal to union workers and voters.
In 2008 President Obama easily won the Badger state by carrying 59 counties. He lost 13.
Fast forward to Biden's narrow win over President Trump in 2020. Biden only won 14 counties in Wisconsin and lost 58.
Todd says Biden's middle-class message is similar to his predecessor.
"This is Donald Trump's economic dream. He wanted to talk about buying American and bringing jobs back from China. Well, that's exactly what Joe Biden talked about in the State of the Union. So I think he's hoping that some of those folks that have liked what Trump has been saying will look at Biden's actions and say, 'Hey, maybe the old Democratic Party's back.'"
Republicans are forcefully pushing back on Biden's claim that some Republicans want Social Security and Medicare to sunset. He brought it up again while in Wisconsin.
Missing from all the hyperbole is a serious conversation on how to sustain both programs if they are expected to run out of money in the next 5-10 years.
Republican Senator Ron Johnson raised that question as well in the 2022. Is Congress going to have a serious conversation on this?
"It's pretty clear, they're not," said Todd. "No matter what you think of Ron Johnson, whenever anybody says, 'Hey, can we have a conversation about this?' Immediately that person gets attacked."
Todd added, "I think the reason why nobody wants to talk about what it takes to deal with them, Republicans don't want to admit that you're going to have to raise taxes to keep these popular programs afloat. And Democrats don't want to talk about the tax increases either."
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