Tag: state

286875 Kanals Of State Land Retrieved In Rajouri District

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SRINAGAR: The District Administration Rajouri has launched a massive anti-encroachment drive in all Tehsils of the district and retrieved over 286875 Kanal and 14 Marlas encroached state land so far.
As per the eviction plan and on the directions of the Deputy Commissioner Rajouri, a series of anti-Encroachment drives have been conducted across the district in the past one month.
The teams of police and revenue officers/officials conducted drives in Rajouri, Darhal, Thanamandi, Nowshera, Qila Darhal, Sunderbani, Siot, Kalakote, Terayth, Beripatan, Manjakote, Moughla and Khawas .
The state land retrieved from the illegal occupants includes 7671 Kanal and 05 marla kacharai land and 279204 Kanal and 9 marlas of state land, including Roshni Land.
Deputy Commissioner, Vikas Kundal said anti-encroachment drives will continue in all the parts of the district till the entire encroached land was retrieved.
The revenue authorities have been directed to erect sign boards to earmark the land as state land, to avoid further encroachment.

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#Kanals #State #Land #Retrieved #Rajouri #District

( With inputs from : kashmirlife.net )

February 9, 2023
PFI wanted to turn India into Islamic state by 2047: Maha ATS

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Mumbai: Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad has claimed the Popular Front of India (PFI), banned by the Centre last year, aimed to establish the “rule of Islam” in India by 2047, and also had plans to obtain weapons and ammunition with the help of foreign countries or other organisations to achieve their targets.
The ATS stated this in its chargesheet filed in a local court last week against five PFI members who were arrested last year for allegedly indulging in unlawful activities and waging a war against the country.
The state ATS arrested the five PFI members – Mazhar Khan, Sadiq Shaikh, Mohammad Iqbal Khan, Momin Mistry and Aasif Hussain Khan – following raids my multiple agencies across various states in September last year.
The accused have been charged under Indian Penal Code sections for promoting enmity between different groups and conspiring to commit certain offences against the state, as well as provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
In the chargesheet filed on February 2, the ATS claimed to have seized a document called “India 2047- towards rule of Islam in India”.
The seized document, as per the ATS, provides a roadmap for members of the group (PFI) to “overturn the government”.
“We dream a 2047, where the political power has returned to the Muslim community from whom it was unjustly taken away by the British Raj. The roadmap towards this first starts with the socio-economic development of Muslim community for which a separate roadmap was already provided in the name of Empower India Foundation,” the document said, as per the chargesheet.
“For this one needs to repeatedly remind the Muslim community of its grievances and establish grievances where there is none. All our frontal organisations including the party should be focused on expanding and recruiting new members,” the document stated.
The chargesheet said the PFI wanted to create a split among several communities by projecting the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) as an organisation interested only in the welfare of upper caste Hindus.

The accused had held several training courses in order to achieve their targets, the ATS said.
The chargesheet also claimed another document was found from the devices of the accused, Iqbal, which gave details of their plans for expansion in Maharashtra.
In the said document, names of all the five accused were mentioned as members who were scheduled to take “final class”, the chargesheet stated.
The organisation (PFI) had plans to obtain weapons and ammunition with the help of foreign countries or other organisations to achieve their targets, the ATS claimed.
The Centre in September 2022 banned the PFI and several of its associates for five years under a stringent anti-terror law, accusing them of having “links” with global terror groups like ISIS and trying to spread communal hatred in the country.
Before the ban, the National Investigating Agency (NIA), the Enforcement Directorate(ED) and various state police forces had carried out raids in a massive pan-India crackdown on the PFI and arrested several of its leaders and activists from various states for allegedly supporting terror activities in the country.
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( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

February 9, 2023
What Administration Must Keep In Mind While Reclaiming State Land?

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by Lateef U Zaman Deva
Charges the occupants with the cost of land based on a 100 per cent increase on the stamp duty rates provided the proposed use comports with the land use under the master Plan, land use.
At the outset, the long overdue sustained drive for retrieval of illegally occupied state and community-oriented Shamilat lands is welcome and gratifying. In the event of its fruition, the campaign in rural areas would pave the way for not only revival but also the sustainable rejuvenation of agro-based enterprises in the pristine ecosystem.
While all sections of Society have exhibited their disinclination in joining status quoists for throwing a spanner in the endeavours of the government on this behalf, the following types of cases need the attention of the authorities in order to prevent the momentum of the campaign from getting derailed:
Before independence and thereafter, the peasantry and small farmers in cultivating possession or occupation of state land were granted tenancy rights followed by ownership rights more particularly under LB-6 and 7 of 1958 and S-432 of 1966. However, the actual beneficiaries of these initiatives were mostly from the affluent classes, bureaucrats, politicians and those having access to the corridors of governing bodies.
The purposes visualised transfer of land to downtrodden and toiling masses actually cultivating the state land but due to the menace of corruption and poverty of the prospective beneficiaries they have not been conferred with rights under relevant orders.
It is in this background that the land under their cultivating possession continues to be recorded as state land and is now being served with notices for surrendering the possession notwithstanding the fact that irrespective of attestation of the mutations or otherwise in their favour the rights have accrued in their favour which cannot be, after 65 years, aborted at this stage.

The government should Institute inquiry for finding out how people on the basis of their socio-economic status in the concerned societies and the naked fact that they have never cultivated the land themselves including their families for generations and yet conferred with the benefits of the government orders ibid, particularly in cases where the beneficiaries were not born on the cut of date or still infants and residing far away from the land usurped under the subterfuge of these orders.
The community lands brought under plantation need not be denuded but, having vested in PRIs and Urban local bodies, handed over to them with conditions for not changing the status of land except under orders of the government in individual cases on the basis of a scheme to be notified by the government, or on a valve to valve basis exchanges allowed with the proprietary land of the illegal occupants contiguous with the community lands.
Houseless and landless families in possession of state land not exceeding 02 kanals were entitled to retain the land for residential purposes under Jammu and Kashmir Agrarian Reforms Act. Similarly, the occupants of state or kahcharia land, used for raising a plantation or an orchard, got an option for offering equivalent proprietary land in exchange for protecting the plantations. Wherever the legal course has been followed under the Act of 1976, the JCB should not be pressed into service.
Under Common Lands (Regulations) Act the state and Shamilat land brought under its purview by extending the Abadi Deh for allotment of 05 Marla plots to landless and homeless families, the non-updation of records should not lead to declaring the allottees as illegal occupants.
The kahcharia within the territories of municipalities has ceased to be so in view of the application of urban land laws and virtual extinction of cattle rearing as a result of the change of professions by the inhabitants of new areas included in respective municipalities. Since before the earmarking of land as kahcharia the said land was actually state land and therefore owing to the factum of its non-use for grazing purposes it reverts it back to the state who, after determining its use, if any, by the state, charges the occupants with the cost of land based on 100 per cent increase on the stamp duty rates provided the proposed use comports with the land use under the master Plan, land use.
Street vendors markets have come up in metropolitan and other cities under the orders of the Apex courts for the rehabilitation of unauthorised street vendors and therefore on the strength of the same rationale the rehabilitation of the existing vendors is called for, those who are currently fearing demolitions and seizer of the properties
Lateef U Zaman Deva
The instruments of the State, wherever holding any immovable property as custodians under any law for the time being in force and the same suffering from encroachments, should be provided paraphernalia and wherewithal for retrieval of their properties and in fact, like state and Shamilat Dafa 05 the Dy Commissioners should include Dharmat, Wakaf and evacuees land also in the campaign underway in Jammu and Kashmir for retrieval of the immovable properties under unauthorised occupation.
(The author is the former Chairman Jammu and Kashmir Public Service Commission. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of TheNewsCaravan.)

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( With inputs from : kashmirlife.net )

February 9, 2023
The debt moment when Biden’s State of the Union turned spicy

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Republicans are insisting on spending cuts and potentially other concessions as Congress girds for a fight over the imminent need to raise the nation’s debt ceiling, while Biden’s party pushes for a clean increase. And the scene in the House chamber grew more tense as, in a nod to those nascent negotiations, Biden said some GOP lawmakers were playing with fire on the nation’s bills.
“Instead of making the wealthy pay their fair share, some Republicans … want Medicare and Social Security to sunset,” Biden said, to more sustained boos from GOP lawmakers.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), sitting in the far back of the chamber and dressed in a white fur coat, leaped to her feet and appeared to yell, “Liar!” (A shout of “bullshit” was also audible from the floor during the debt back-and-forth, though it was not clear whether that came from Greene or another member.)
In response to the frustration, Biden acknowledged that Speaker Kevin McCarthy and others in the GOP have declared they won’t touch entitlement programs during the debt talks — in fact, the California Republican delivered a preliminary rebuttal to the president’s speech that pointedly stated as much.
But Biden went on to reiterate that other Republicans have sent a different message, viewing changes to Social Security and Medicare as up for discussion. As he quipped to Republican lawmakers that “so, we agree” on not touching either program, some GOP members appeared to cheer in affirmation.
Asked after the speech about the cry of “liar” toward the president, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) pointed to “a number of things” Biden said as underpinning it. “He tries to keep spreading this false narrative about getting rid of Social Security and Medicare,” Scalise said.
Rep. Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.) described the combative episode more bluntly: “The president was trying to score political points, despite the fact that Republican leadership has made it clear that Medicare and Social Security benefits are off the table. Republicans made clear their dissatisfaction with his ploy.”
And soon after Biden left the chamber, he tweeted what appeared to be a fresh challenge to Republicans on Social Security and Medicare, as the GOP prepares its fiscal blueprint: “Look: I welcome all converts. But now, let’s see your budget.”

Meredith Lee Hill contributed to this report.

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( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

February 8, 2023
The state of Biden’s union with a GOP Congress: It’s tense

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“This is not the House of Parliament. I wish there were more decorum, but it seems like we just keep going further downhill every State of the Union,” said Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah), who set off a different kind of political storm after telling disgraced Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) that he didn’t “belong” in the chamber for the speech. (Romney later called the serial fabricator’s behavior, including an attempt to shake hands with Biden, “an embarrassment.”)
After McCarthy promised before the speech that his members would avoid “playing childish games,” the State of Union highlighted yet again just how tough it will be for him to corral his fractious Republicans on any given day. And for Biden, the evening demonstrated that his heady days of accomplishment during the last Congress have abruptly come to a close.
The theatrics began midway through Biden’s speech, as he scolded Republicans about their past interest in cutting the nation’s biggest entitlement programs in a bid to set the stakes for the upcoming debt limit battle. As the jeers escalated from the opposition, Biden began battling the GOP in real time — ad-libbing his own prepared remarks to challenge Republicans who were shouting at him from the chamber floor.
“Republicans want Medicare and Social Security to sunset,” Biden said as the GOP side of the chamber erupted in boos. It was a reference to Sen. Rick Scott’s (R-Fla.) proposal last year to wind down all laws after five years, an agenda that split Scott’s party and that Biden has attacked repeatedly.
Then, veering from his own remarks, Biden attempted to clarify — “I don’t think it is a majority of you” — though he could barely be heard above the GOP outcry on the floor. “So folks, as we all apparently agree, Social Security and Medicare, off the books now, right?” Biden said.
Republicans had hoped McCarthy’s Tuesday pledge that the GOP wouldn’t touch the two programs in the debt limit fight would keep the president from hitting them on it, despite the fact that some of them remain broadly interested in changing the popular entitlements. They were livid.
“The president was trying to score political points, despite the fact that Republican leadership has made it clear that Medicare and Social Security benefits are off the table,” said Rep. Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.). “Republicans made clear their dissatisfaction with his ploy.”
The tensions only grew from there. Biden’s back-and-forth on the debt battle seemed to embolden his critics — chief among them, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, sitting in the far back row in a stark white, fur-lined jacket. As the Georgia Republican sat, she rarely looked up from her phone except to occasionally shout at Biden.

“Liar!” she shouted at first, in response to Biden’s accusation of GOP cuts to Social Security and Medicare. “Bullshit!” she called later. And when Biden called for action on the deadly drug fentanyl — one of the GOP’s biggest priorities — Greene shouted: “It’s coming from China.”
She was hardly alone: Dozens of other Republicans joined in with chants to “secure our border” as Biden spoke of the need for an immigration overhaul. Several other Republicans called out “liar,” and at least one shouted “it’s your fault” as Biden touted efforts to lower fentanyl deaths.
“That’s just not acceptable in the type of country we are and the leader of the free world,” Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) said of the ruckus. “Might be accepted in a Third World country. But not here.”
But Republicans weren’t done after the speech. Scott fumed of Biden afterward: “He’s been lying about me for a year. He’s a liar.”
The tenor of the speech, at times, clashed with the pomp and circumstance of one of Congress’ biggest nights. Ahead of the address, Capitol hallways were packed with the return of lawmakers’ State of the Union guests — a tradition that got nixed during the height of the pandemic.
Other parts of Biden’s remarks, though, went just as expected.
He received standing ovations on bipartisan issues like support for veterans exposed to toxic burn pits while serving. Republicans cheered when Biden lamented that the U.S. would be “on oil and gas for a while” — a nod to Manchin, who chairs the Energy Committee and hails from a deep-red fossil-fuel state.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), as well as Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) and Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.), remained seated when Biden mentioned McCarthy’s name for the first time.
But for Democratic leaders, the speech was just what they were looking for: combative at times, heavily focused on economics and not filled with lofty rhetoric. As Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) dipped into an elevator to head home for the night, the back-and-forth between Biden and Republicans did little to dampen his good mood.
Americans thought “he’s talking right to me,” Schumer said of the presidential address. “My needs, my dreams, my hopes. It wasn’t high-falutin’, it wasn’t high up in the stratosphere. It was aimed right at them.”
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#state #Bidens #union #GOP #Congress #tense
( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

February 8, 2023
Opinion | Cancel the State of the Union

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The State of the Union isn’t completely useless, as I argued here eight years ago. It can help a president shape and present his agenda to Congress and the public. But a well-written email or PowerPoint demonstration could probably do an equal job of organizing and explaining an administration’s ambitions for the coming year.
When assigning blame for the contemporary indulgence of the SOTU, the obvious villain is television. The event was once a daytime bit of programming. It didn’t become a prime-time show until President Lyndon Johnson gave his 1965 performance. Johnson delighted at having a forum that allowed him to speak directly to the public, unlike press conferences, which are frequently interrupted by pesky questions from reporters. Reagan supplemented his SOTU speeches with Hollywood stagecraft. Previously, the SOTU was a simple speech. But Reagan turned it into a show by casting everyday heroes, veterans, activists and others into his productions, prompting whistles and applause by calling out their names and goading them to stand up and receive congressional adulation. Subsequent presidents, especially Bill Clinton and Donald Trump, expanded the “folks in the crowd” gimmick so far that some years the “guests” became more notable than the speech itself. (I’ll bet President Bill Clinton wishes he could row back the honors he gave Sammy Sosa.) Today, the SOTU resembles an old-fashioned variety show, only with the president filling in for Ed Sullivan.
The SOTU has thrived as a public spectacle for the past 80 years because it taps into a human psyche that seems to demand annual festivals and celebrations that renew the human spirit. Most cultures, ancient and modern, have marked the new year with rituals that plot a new beginning for all concerned. For Christians, this time of renewal can by marked by Easter or Christmas. For agrarian societies, it came at harvest time. For drinkers, it’s New Year’s Eve. For politicians, the State of the Union has become the starting place for political renewal, a time when all the powers — Congress, the Supreme Court, the Joint Chiefs of Staff — await (or prepare to ignore) instructions from their maximum leader.
Like a religious observance, the SOTU is chockablock with ritual observances. It’s usually given on a Tuesday. The members of the Supreme Court must sit motionless, like sphinxes, and not applaud. The sergeant-at-arms of the U.S. House of Representatives welcomes the maximum lead with an introduction that never varies. “Mr. Speaker, the president of the United States!” The ritual sequesters a single cabinet official off-site (the “designated survivor”) to ascend to the presidency in case a bomb strikes the building and vaporizes all. And the speech always elicits as many standing ovations from members of the president’s party as you might witness at a Bruce Springsteen concert. The SOTU festival expanded its footprint in 1966, when the opposition party started giving its response to the president’s comments the same night.
None of this is necessary, of course. A simpler ritual observance marking the political new year could be instituted, maybe organized around the Super Bowl and income-tax season, or maybe just a countdown ball like the one used in Times Square. By reducing the SOTU to an email, we would save a lot of time and bother. It would discourage presidents from engaging in demagoguery. Presidential speechwriters would also be encouraged to make the message weightier. As the Guardian reported in 2013, SOTU addresses have grown linguistically dumber and dumber since Washington’s time.
And it might lower political temperatures. When Jefferson sent his comments to Congress instead of delivering them publicly like his predecessors, he said his intention was to preserve “harmony” in government. “By sending a message, instead of making a speech at the opening of the session,” he wrote, “I have prevented the bloody conflicts to which the making an answer would have commited [sic] them.”
It’s not too late, President Joe Biden. You can still cancel the public SOTU and send an email instead. Just let me know your email address ahead of time so I can set up an Outlook rule to send the message directly to the trash.
******

Jake Tapper goes to bed at 7:30 p.m. every night except New Year’s Eve when he stays up until 10 p.m. Send SOTU trivia to [email protected]. No new email alert subscriptions are being honored at this time. My Twitter feed watches the SOTU on YouTube. My Mastodon and my Post accounts want to sit in the gallery and be called on by the president. My RSS feed has never given a standing ovation to anybody.

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#Opinion #Cancel #State #Union
( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

February 7, 2023
Biden to push for universal insulin price cap in State of the Union

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“The President will call on Congress to extend this commonsense, life-saving protection to all Americans,” the fact sheet said.
Democrats had originally planned to pass a universal insulin price cap last year as part of the Inflation Reduction Act, which was passed along party lines last August. But the policy was scaled back after Republicans successfully challenged its inclusion. Democrats since then have vowed to continue to push for its passage, arguing that it’s broadly popular and crucial to ensuring that people can afford essential medicines.
Still, Biden’s fresh support for expanding the price cap is unlikely to result in much concrete progress. Republicans remain opposed to the measure, and are unlikely to even allow a vote on it in the House now that they control the chamber.
Biden during his State of the Union speech is also expected to highlight a handful of other health care accomplishments, including landmark legislation granting Medicare the right to negotiate drug prices and cap certain out-of-pocket pharmacy costs. He will celebrate the three latest states to expand their Medicaid programs, while urging Congress to pass legislation that would close coverage gaps in the 11 holdout states that have yet to expand Medicaid.
The president also plans to call for continuing to lower health insurance costs, pointing to expanded Obamacare subsidies that the administration estimates lowered customers’ premiums by an average of $800 per year and pushed the nation’s uninsured rate to an all-time low.
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#Biden #push #universal #insulin #price #cap #State #Union
( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

February 7, 2023
Centre creating hurdles in Telangana’s development: State minister

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Hyderabad: Telangana’s Finance Minister T. Harish Rao on Monday alleged that the Centre is creating hurdles in the development of the state.
Presenting the State Budget for 2023-24 in the Assembly, he said while Telangana has been achieving significant development through its own efforts, the Central government has been creating hurdles after hurdles.
He slammed the union government for reducing the state’s borrowing limit and said that in order to complete the irrigation projects within the shortest time, Telangana government resorted to off-budget borrowings well within the limits of FRBM Act.
“During the current year, based on our economic performance and borrowing limits, an amount of Rs 53,970 crore has been included in the Budget as borrowings. But the Central government unilaterally imposed a cut of Rs 15,033 crore and reduced our borrowing limits to Rs 38,937 crore. This decision of the Centre is totally unjustified and uncalled for. These kinds of cuts are against the spirit of federalism and have eroded the rights of the States,” he said.
Harish Rao alleged that the Centre has broken the tradition of implementing in toto the recommendations of the Finance Commission.
The 15th Finance Commission recommended a special grant of Rs.723 crore to Telangana and an amount of Rs 171 crore towards nutrition to ensure that the tax devolution should not be less than the amount of devolution received by the State in 2019-20. By not accepting these recommendations, the Central government denied Telangana of its due share in the Finance Commission grants.
He said in the history Aof the country, no government has ignored the recommendations of the Finance Commission in such a blatant manner.
He termed as totally undemocratic, the Centre’s indifference in the implementation of many provisions in the Parliament enacted Andhra Pradesh Reorganization Act.

Harish Rao pointed out that A.P. Reorganization Act mandates the Central government to provide tax concessions to the successor States in order to ensure industrialization and economic growth in the two States. By providing only nominal concessions, the Central government has ignored the interests of both the States.
“Under section 94(2) of the A.P.Reorganization Act, the Central government shall provide funds for the development of backward areas. Though the Centre is supposed to release a grant of Rs 450 crore per annum, grants for three years amounting to Rs 1,350 crore have not been released.”
The state Finance Minister told the Assembly that NITI Aayog has recommended that a grant of Rs 19,205 crore for Mission Bhagiratha and Rs 5,000 crore for Mission Kakatiya may be released by the Centre to Telangana.
But the Central government has not released even one paise so far, he claimed.
“The 13th Schedule of the A.P.Reorganization Act has mandated the Centre to take necessary steps and to establish institutions for the sustained development of the State in the next 10 years. The Centre by its negligent attitude has not resolved many issues so far.
“Establishment of a Rail Coach Factory at Kazipet, Bayyaram Steel Plant and Girijan University have been specifically mentioned in the Reorganization Act. These mandates have not been fulfilled even after eight and a half years. In addition, the ITIR sanctioned to Telangana has been shelved.
“Another glaring instance of discrimination to Telangana is the order issued by the Union Power Ministry in August 2022. In this order, Telangana government has been directed to pay pending dues of TS DISCOMs amounting to Rs 3,441.78 crore as principal and Rs 3,315.14 crore as late payment surcharge, totaling to Rs 6,756.92 crore to A.P.Genco within 30 days. Though Telangana has been pleading with the Central government regarding dues amounting to Rs.17,828 crore payable by Andhra Pradesh to Telangana Power Utilities, the request has been ignored without any reason. Left with no option, the Telangana government had to approach the Court of Law,” he added.
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( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

February 6, 2023
State of the Union 2023: What to know ahead of Biden’s speech

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Since the speech is delivered during a joint session of Congress, all members of the House and Senate are invited – though not required – to attend. Last year, several GOP lawmakers boycotted the event because of the coronavirus testing requirement. And in 2020, a number of Democrats did not attend former President Donald Trump’s speech as he faced an impeachment vote in the Senate.
The president and first lady Jill Biden can invite family members and other guests, who sit with the first lady in her box in the balcony. The White House has yet to announce who will attend, but guests will likely help the president highlight some of the points in his speech. Last year’s guests included the Ukrainian ambassador to the U.S., Oksana Markarova, and Biden’s sister, Valerie Biden Owens.
Members of Congress can also invite guests this year, after coronavirus protocols prevented them from doing so last year. Rep. Steven Horsford (D-Nev.), the chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, invited RowVaughn and Rodney Wells, the mother and stepfather of Tyree Nichols, the Black man who was beaten to death by Memphis police officers earlier this month. And CNN has reported that Rep. Mike McCaul (R-Texas) will bring Roya Rahmani, former Afghanistan ambassador to the U.S., as his guest to draw attention to Biden’s controversial withdrawal of troops from the country.
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( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

February 5, 2023
Flexing his wins and eyeing a 2nd term, Biden will lay out contrasts with GOP in State of the Union

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Though Biden won’t mention them by name, aides believe the presence of newly prominent House Republicans in the chamber will underscore his arguments. A year ago, Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) and Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) heckled Biden during his speech, and photographs of their shouting went viral. White House aides privately admit that they wouldn’t mind that happening again this time, creating a contrast between rabble-rousing in the crowd and steady leadership on the dais.
“The theme of a State of the Union is always ‘Who are we, who do want to be? What do we stand for, what do we want to believe?’” said Jen Psaki, Biden’s former press secretary. “That is not to ignore or deny huge problems in the country but to say ‘I will work with people to take them on.’”
But the subtext of the address will not be the lawmakers in the seats but the campaign ahead. Biden has not yet declared his candidacy but the State of the Union could very well double as a soft launch for a 2024 bid. The president has said he intends to stand for re-election, though some of his closest advisers caution that a final decision has not yet been made. In somewhat classic Biden fashion, the timeline for an announcement has shifted, according to four people familiar with the decision.
Originally pegged to March or April, in part for fundraising purposes, there had been talk of moving an announcement up to late February. That now may have slipped again as the White House grapples with the appointment of a special counsel to investigate the discovery of mishandled classified documents at Biden’s Delaware home and former office.
Biden advisers have downplayed the impact of the discovery — pointing to his unchanged approval rating in the face of the controversy. They believe the Democrats’ triumphs in November squelched any talk of an intra-party challenger and bought the 80-year-old president time to make his decision.
Still, Biden faces challenges heading into Tuesday’s address.
A divided Washington and a growing array of challenges could define his presidency in the months ahead. House Republicans are ramping up their investigations. The battle for Ukraine continues to rage. And in just the last fortnight, the nation has been left reeling by video of a brutal deadly assault of a Black man at the hands of police.
Biden is expected to rally Americans on Tuesday with the notion that the nation is at an inflection point as it emerges from the COVID pandemic and the trials put forth by Donald Trump’s time in office.

A year ago, Biden delivered his first State of the Union just days after Vladimir Putin sent his Russian forces over the Ukrainian border. The fate of Kyiv hung in the balance and Biden used a sweeping portion of his speech to argue that the defense of Ukraine was a defense of democracies around the globe.
Now, the case will be different. Ukraine has shown remarkable resilience, repelling much of Russia’s aggression, but the war has settled into a grinding slog with Kyiv clamoring for more weapons to defend itself for months if not years. Biden, aides said, will outline to the public why continued, sustained American involvement is needed. He will urge Republicans to ignore the voices in their own party who want to curtail funding to Ukraine.
Another standoff with Republicans will also be central to Biden’s pitch: the need to lift the nation’s debt ceiling. He will make clear that he will not negotiate on the country’s fiscal future, connecting it to his stewardship of the economy. Though inflation remains high, it has begun to cool, and the president is expected to point to historically low unemployment, strong jobs numbers and a growing feeling among economists that the nation could avoid a recession.
“There should be a focus on tone: be firm without [being] combative,” said Kevin Madden, a Republican strategist who was a senior adviser on Mitt Romney’s 2012 presidential campaign. “And there has to be an acknowledgment of the pain inflation has caused. It can’t just be ‘happy talk’ about what they’ve done on the economy. You run the risk of looking out of touch.”
Any State of the Union is of the moment, and reflective of the challenges facing the country when it is delivered. In recent days, Biden aides have inserted sections into the speech on the collective traumas suffered by the nation last month.
In the wake of several mass shootings, including two in California just days apart, Biden will again call for a ban on assault weapons, an idea that has little chance of receiving Republican support. And he will likely mourn with the nation over Tyre Nichols, a Black man who died at the hands of Memphis police officers last month, trying to thread the needle of showing support for law enforcement while also advocating for police reform.
Even if some legislation — like the George Floyd Policing Bill and the assault weapons ban — have little chance of becoming law, there is still value in the president proposing something that polls show is popular with most Americans, aides said.
Some of Biden’s speech will be backward-looking, reflecting the political reality of a divided Congress unlikely to pass meaningful legislation against a backdrop of GOP probes into the president’s administration and family. But White House aides believe that could be to their advantage, allowing the president to blame the GOP for gridlock while he can extoll the accomplishments of the last two years.
One example will be infrastructure. Aides plan for Biden to highlight the projects underway thanks to the $1 trillion in federal funding and point to last week’s schedule — the president visited one project in Baltimore and another in New York City — as a preview of the year ahead. Biden will start criss-crossing the country to tout work funded by his administration, beginning with a post-speech barnstorming tour across the Midwest later this week.
The president, always deliberative, will consider his political future by making more rounds of calls to his longtime allies, talking through themes and timing, pushed by a belief that he remains the one Democrat who could defeat Trump. Most close to Biden believe that, soon enough, an official campaign will begin in earnest.
“He should focus attention on … big legislative achievements, the national pandemic emergency ending, the economy stabilizing and still growing, and how the midterms went very well for his party,” said Julian Zelizer, a presidential historian at Princeton University. “If this was any other president, without the age issues or concerns about what the Republican campaign might look like, this would be a message to launch 2024.”
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( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

February 5, 2023