Joe Biden’s State Of The Union Address Will Include Call For Unity Amid Divided Government: “Conflict For The Sake Of Conflict Gets Us Nowhere”

deadline.com:

With a potential showdown looming over raising the debt ceiling, President Joe Biden plans to use part of his State of the Union speech as a call for unity. “To my Republican friends, if we could work together in the last Congress, there is no reason we can’t work together in this new Congress,” Biden plans to say, according to remarks released by the White House. “The people sent us a clear message.

Fighting for the sake of fighting, power for the sake of power, conflict for the sake of conflict, gets us nowhere.” The comments are out of a typical SOTU playbook, but they take on new resonance amid concerns that a protracted standoff over the debt limit could rattle markets and send the economy into a nosedive.

Biden met with new-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) last week, as Republicans look likely to demand spending cuts, as yet undefined, before raising the ceiling again.

Much of Biden’s speech is expected to be devoted to the administration’s accomplishments, as Biden is bolstered by a recent blockbuster jobs report.  “Jobs are coming back, pride is coming back because of the choices we made in the last two years,” Biden plans to say, according to remarks released by the White House. “This is a blue-collar blueprint to rebuild America and make a real difference in your lives.” He also plans to declare that “Covid no longer controls our lives,” and that democracy “remains unbowed and unbroken.” The latter is a reference to the January 6th attack on the Capitol. “The story of America is a story of progress and resilience,” Biden plans to say. “We are the only country that has emerged from every crisis stronger than when we entered it.