President Biden gave his initial speech to a Joint Session of Congress; but with Covid protocols in place the speech had a unique atmosphere. As I watched I wrote on Twitter that having tried, and failed, many times in my youth to get a ticket for a Joint Session; this past week’s nearly empty House Chamber was an eerie picture.

As has become the practice at Joint Sessions the simple act of applauding the President’s comments became political statements. Speaker Pelosi would signal Democrats when they should stand, and Leader McConnell would set the tone for Republicans.

President Biden is an experienced and poised speaker and both practiced his speech and participated in the writing of the remarks; even most Republicans conceded it was well delivered. The content had been well leaked so there were no surprises. The President gave a strong pitch for bipartisanship; and there does seem to be a ray of hope that the two sides may be able to find some common ground on the more traditional infrastructure ideas. A group of Republicans have given the White House a proposal totaling $568B; and while much less than the $2T proposed by the President it is a significant proposal. Republicans left projects on Broadband buildout and electric grid upgrades out of their proposal; but...

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