Checks and Balance: Cup of Joe
Checks and Balance from The Economist
The Economist
4.6 • 1.7K Ratings
🗓️ 4 March 2022
⏱️ 42 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Joe Biden gave his first State of the Union address against a difficult backdrop. Inflation is soaring, covid variants have extended the death toll of the pandemic and the signature piece of his domestic agenda is stuck. Now he has the conflict in Ukraine to deal with. Can Joe Biden rescue his presidency?
The Economist’s James Astill assesses the president’s track record. We go back to another State of the Union given by a president in a bind. And The Economist’s Elliott Morris digs into voter sentiment.
John Prideaux presents with Charlotte Howard and Idrees Kahloon.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | As the turquoise waves lapped against the white sands of Montego Bay, John Block put his |
| 0:09.6 | feet up and took a sip of wine. |
| 0:13.0 | Relaxing at a friend's house on Jamaica's northern shore, he had occasionally cheered |
| 0:17.2 | at the television showing the speech being given by his boss back home in D.C. Block's |
| 0:23.0 | job that night was simple. |
| 0:25.1 | Stay alive. |
| 0:27.3 | It was 1986 and John Block was the agriculture secretary in Ronald Reagan's Cabinet. |
| 0:32.8 | The speech was the state of the Union and Block was the designated survivor, a lower level |
| 0:38.0 | cabinet member chosen not to attend in case there was the need for a grim contingency plan. |
| 0:43.9 | With all of the high-ranking officials in the government in one place, should some |
| 0:47.5 | catastrophe occur, the designated survivor would be able to take over running the nation. |
| 0:53.5 | Thomas Secretary Gina Raimondo was this year's pick, although there was no Jamaican |
| 0:57.4 | getaway for her. |
| 0:59.6 | Since 9-11, the role has been taken more seriously, with the chosen survivor squirreled away in |
| 1:04.3 | a secure location by the Secret Service. |
| 1:08.0 | She watched Joe Biden give the marquee address at a time when his presidency is in a slump. |
| 1:14.6 | I'm John Prado and this is Chex and Balance from the Economist. |
| 1:20.6 | Each week, we take one big theme, shaping American politics and explore it in depth. |
| 1:28.2 | Today, how is Joe Biden's presidency going? |
| 1:48.1 | After his nearly half-century in Washington, Joe Biden has attended many state-of-the-union |
| 1:52.6 | addresses. |
| 1:53.6 | This week, it was finally his time at the podium. |
... |
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