President Biden vowed Tuesday to rebuild Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge after it collapsed into the water when a cargo ship rammed into it, echoing what some Maryland officials said earlier b…

President Biden vowed Tuesday to rebuild Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge after it collapsed into the water when a cargo ship rammed into it, echoing what some Maryland officials said earlier but adding that he expects the federal government to foot the bill.

“It’s my intention that the federal government will pay for the entire cost of reconstructing that bridge, and I expect the Congress to support my effort,” Biden said in remarks at the White House. “This is going to take some time, but the people of Baltimore can count on us though to stick with them at every step of the way until the port is reopen and the bridge is rebuilt.”

He said he spoke with Maryland Gov. Wes Moore (D) on Tuesday morning, as well as Maryland officials including its congressional delegation and two U.S. senators. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg traveled to the Baltimore site.

  • givesomefucks@lemmy.worldEnglish
    1279·
    8 months ago

    “It’s my intention that the federal government will pay for the entire cost of reconstructing that bridge, and I expect the Congress to support my effort,” Biden said in remarks at the White House. “This is going to take some time, but the people of Baltimore can count on us though to stick with them at every step of the way until the port is reopen and the bridge is rebuilt.”

    Any minute now… Just like his other “vows”.

    Also, crazy how the headline makes it sound sure to happen, and his actual statement is filled with weasel words.

    Give politicians credit for what they do, not for they “vow” to do.

    • stanleytweedle@lemmy.worldEnglish
      674·
      8 months ago

      Give politicians credit for what they do, not for they “vow” to do.

      Good point, and there’s a lot of credit to give to Biden on the economy, judges, infrastructure, and even some steps on climate change. So yeah, I think this bridge will probably be rebuilt as he said.

      But you’re right- we know that because of what he’s done, not what he says. Always good to keep that in mind.

        • mozz@mbin.grits.dev
          322·
          8 months ago

          It will surprise no one to know that 2/3rds of this is total factual bullshit (edit: grossly misleading). I touched elsewhere on some of the big substantive things like wage inequality or emissions reductions that have improved dramatically under his presidency, but the homelessness I don’t think had been brought up. So:

          • Homelessness has been going down steadily, and we’re nowhere near the 647,000 people record set around 2007. There was, recently, a big jump up between 2018 and 2020. I guess Biden really fucked up letting it get away from him during that time before we leveled off the growth again just recently? (Edit: This is 100% wrong – homelessness did in fact spike to record levels in 2023 after the end of that chart, when Covid aid ran out)
          • 2023 was, as far as I know, the biggest year for strikes in history. If Biden’s a strike breaker he’s doing a real shitty job at it. He did break the rail strike which would have done some amount of damage to the wider economy (you know, the inflation that some people like to blame Biden for?), but after that happened his labor department kept working the issue with the railroads and got the workers the sick days they were striking for in the first place.

          Record oil production is accurate. I would balance that against the war in Ukraine, record inflation, his positive action on the emissions side which is the biggest single action a US president has ever taken on the climate… but yes there’s some amount of actual nuance and judgement there. The other two bullet points are respectively purely made up and grossly unfair, though.

          • Billiam@lemmy.world
            191·
            8 months ago

            homelessness did in fact spike to record levels in 2023 after the end of that chart when Covid aid ran out

            Hmm, surely the fact that the House went to the fascists who stopped funding COVID aid programs because they literally don’t believe it exists had no effect on the homeless population, right?

            • mozz@mbin.grits.dev
              61·
              8 months ago

              Oh, yeah, I definitely 100% agree that it wasn’t Biden’s fault, for that among a couple of different reasons. But that’s a separate topic from, did it even happen in the first place.

              • Billiam@lemmy.world
                2·
                8 months ago

                Don’t get me wrong, I wasn’t saying you did. But there’s plenty of people who would say that’s Biden’s fault, when the problem (as was predicted at the time) was caused by Republicans in Congress. Just like how ending COVID stimulus programs threw millions of children back into poverty.

          • HappycamperNZ@lemmy.world
            4·
            8 months ago

            What is this - balanced, referenced comment with sources and corrections when new info came to light???

            Don’t care about that other crap - Biden should get on to supporting this.

            • mozz@mbin.grits.dev
              191·
              8 months ago

              Oh shit – yeah, you’re 100% right on homelessness, I hadn’t seen that. Mostly I look at sources that haven’t been updated for 2023 yet. But yeah that’s 100% accurate, I edited my comment.

              So your railroad story is from December 2022 – i.e. right after the strike broke, but before there had been time for the labor department to secure sick days for the workers, including at the exact union that guy’s a member of.

              Here’s another story about it.

              Joseph McCartin, a labor historian at Georgetown University, said: “It’s a significant set of quiet victories. It shows that it really makes a difference to have a pro-labor president.”

              Here’s another from early on, and then here’s the update from June when 60% of workers had their sick leave.

              Is that enough? Not really. I agree with Tormey’s anger about how he’s being treated, especially in December 2022 when the wounds would still have been fresh, and I’m sure on the whole balance he’s still getting fucked. It’s a goddamned shame. My point was more that Biden had the chance to break strikes on behalf of around 450,000 striking workers in 2023, and he didn’t. Why do you think he didn’t break any of those strikes?

                • mozz@mbin.grits.dev
                  15·
                  8 months ago

                  Ah yes, the famous propagandist’s trick of saying “Oh hey you’re right, let me edit my comment to reflect the new reality I just learned about.” I see them do it all the time, it’s a hallmark.

                  Quitting while you’re ahead for the moment, instead of being willing to delve into any of the other issues surrounding the claims you were making, does seem pretty wise though. I’d probably do the same in your position. Have a good one.

                • Psychodelic@lemmy.world
                  6·
                  8 months ago

                  Are you intentionally framing your thoughts and opinions in the most insufferable way possible? If so, why?

                  It’s like you could’ve made a decent point but then tried really hard to make it as disrespectfully as possible

                • ieatpillowtags@lemm.ee
                  51·
                  8 months ago

                  You can just say, “I don’t have any valid points to make, sorry bye” instead of this absolutely pathetic comment. Talk about bad faith…

                • Mastengwe@lemm.ee
                  1·
                  8 months ago

                  Wow! This is the exact same thing even says to you seemingly everyday. It’s almost plagiarism!

        • eskimofry@lemmy.world
          5·
          8 months ago

          Wait i thought you wanted to hear what he’s done… not these other things you’re conveniently adding on after hearing what he has done?

        • Audacious@sh.itjust.works
          26·
          8 months ago

          I’ll never forget what he did to the railroad workers. Then he goes to a different union rally to pretend he cares about the working class. I guess the good thing was he made me see how powerless unions are in america, where there are extra harmful fees to going on strike.

          • protist@mander.xyzEnglish
            92·
            8 months ago

            Didn’t the Biden Admin keep working behind the scenes after denying that strike and help the railroad unions get the sick leave they wanted in the end?

    • AbidanYre@lemmy.worldEnglish
      202·
      8 months ago

      Jesus Christ dude, it’s been like 12 hours. What do you expect him to have done by now?

      • givesomefucks@lemmy.worldEnglish
        525·
        8 months ago

        What would be cool is not use federal funds to repair a bridge a billions dollar company damaged…

        If I drive into a house, me or my insurance has to pay for it…

        But when a billion dollar corporation destroys critical infrastructure, our tax dollars pay for it?

        Explain that to me.

        Why do we pay for our mistakes and companies mistakes?

        When do companies pay?

        • AbidanYre@lemmy.worldEnglish
          202·
          8 months ago

          That’s quite a change from:

          Any minute now… Just like his other “vows”.

          In the span of two comments you’ve gone from complaining that he never does anything to complaining that be shouldn’t be doing this.

          It’s almost like you’re not here in good faith…

            • AbidanYre@lemmy.worldEnglish
              71·
              8 months ago

              Yeah, but it seems pretty disingenuous to complain that Biden is simultaneously making empty promises but not actually doing anything while also wasting taxpayer money fixing a bridge.

              • givesomefucks@lemmy.worldEnglish
                25·
                8 months ago

                Yeah, the government never wastes money to accomplish nothing…

                It’s not like trump shut down the government a couple years ago to secure funding for a non existent border wall…

                Side note:

                Have you ever wondered about a Memento reboot where only one person in the world retained their long term memories?

                Every one else just forgets everything after like 20 seconds and gets taken advantage of by a small group of psychopaths?

                • AbidanYre@lemmy.worldEnglish
                  42·
                  8 months ago

                  So, just to recap.

                  First, you complained that Biden is nothing but empty promises.

                  Then you complained that taxpayers have to pay for the bridge (if it was an empty promise nobody is paying for it)

                  Now you’re complaining that it’s all a waste of money and nothing will be accomplished anyway (do you think we, as a society, are incapable of building a bridge?)

                  It kind of sounds like you’re just going to bitch and moan no matter what.

                  I remember Trump shutting down the government. Do you think this situation is remotely similar? Does half the population not want this bridge in place?

                  If that remake does happen, you’re not the one that’s going to be keeping your memory. You can’t even seem to remember what point you were trying to argue when you can just scroll up and read it again.

                  • givesomefucks@lemmy.worldEnglish
                    23·
                    8 months ago

                    Just recap:

                    12 hours ago you randomly insulted me, deleted the comment, and now 12 hours later youre trying to start an argument again in the same thread and close it out with more insults?

                    Why would you think I wouldn’t just block you?

                • exanime@lemmy.world
                  42·
                  8 months ago

                  Yeah, the government never wastes money to accomplish nothing…

                  So now you are certain the bridge will be rebuilt?

              • givesomefucks@lemmy.worldEnglish
                29·
                8 months ago

                So I’m confused…

                You think this will be fixed quickly and taxpayers won’t have to pay for it?

                Because that’s not what Biden said…

                Have you read the link yet?

                It’s my intention that the federal government will pay for the entire cost of reconstructing that bridge, and I expect the Congress to support my effort,” Biden said in remarks at the White House. “This is going to take some time, but the people of Baltimore can count on us though to stick with them at every step of the way until the port is reopen and the bridge is rebuilt.”

                Like, you’re calling me full of shit for what Biden’s saying

                • ieatpillowtags@lemm.ee
                  72·
                  8 months ago

                  See there you go again with your weird fucking posts, who are you even talking to? You’re having a conversation with yourself and trying to stir shit up. Very inauthentic behavior.

                  • givesomefucks@lemmy.worldEnglish
                    25·
                    8 months ago

                    You said:

                    Nah you’re full of shit

                    So I elaborated on that comment you replied too…

                    Did I misunderstand and your comment had nothing to do with what I said and just a drive-by insult?

                    I didn’t want to assume the worst the first time. But two in a row I gotta ask.

                  • givesomefucks@lemmy.worldEnglish
                    31·
                    8 months ago

                    So just random drive by insults?

                    You know that’s against the rules of pretty much every community, right?

        • hannes3120@feddit.de
          62·
          8 months ago

          The company will pay eventually - it’s mostly about making the money available as soon as possible before the legal responsibilities are cleared up

          • givesomefucks@lemmy.worldEnglish
            412·
            8 months ago

            The company will pay eventually

            Hahahahhahaha, hahahhahaha…

            Deep breathe

            Hahahahahhahahaha

            • TheKingBombOmbKiller@lemm.ee
              41·
              8 months ago

              So the US Government should not make money available ASAP to rebuild the bridge, but instead wait for the laughable scenario that the company pays for the damages?

    • mozz@mbin.grits.dev
      174·
      8 months ago

      The quick list is biggest single action on climate change in US history, estimated to hit a 40% reduction in emissions by 2030, $144 billion forgiveness of student loan debt, lowest unemployment in 20 years (or 50 depending on how you count) even after the Covid apocalypse which most countries haven’t even dug out from yet, wage inequality going down for the first time in I have no idea how long, Amazon paying $3 billion per quarter in corporate tax instead of the negative $1.2 billion they were paying before his corporate tax reform.

      He vowed / attempted to do a certain amount more than that, yes, and getting that more stuff done also would be great too, but it’s not like he’s just been fucking off playing golf this whole time.

      For what reason the news doesn’t highlight that type of stuff and instead focuses on whatever they focus on, I have no idea.

      • yarr@feddit.nlEnglish
        3·
        8 months ago

        For what reason the news doesn’t highlight that type of stuff and instead focuses on whatever they focus on, I have no idea.

        Easy, they want outrage. Biden following through on some mundane promise made some time ago riles up exactly no one, therefore it doesn’t get a headline. Modern media is extremely predictable in their approach.

        • mozz@mbin.grits.dev
          151·
          8 months ago

          Ha, we’ll see. I liked the extensive copy-paste with its sourcing, but mods apparently didn’t like me copy-pasting the same huge comment into any thread where someone started up with “we all agree Biden didn’t do shit, it’s so well known I don’t even need to go into details, it’s definitely just something we all agree on…”. I do kind of get the objection to doing that, so I retyped it this time but still gave a link to the places the sources are found. We’ll see what the mods do with it.

    • exanime@lemmy.world
      41·
      8 months ago

      Not to defend politicians or journalists… But the headline is clear this is just a promise to act someday