White House press secretary Jen Psaki cracked a joke Tuesday about the supply chain crisis affecting businesses and consumers across the country, saying it's a "tragedy" some people may have to wait longer for their treadmill to arrive.
"The tragedy of the treadmill that’s delayed," Psaki sighed during her daily press briefing.
Psaki was asked to address the supply chain disruptions across the country that have left store shelves bare ahead of the crucial holiday shopping season. One reporter asked why President Biden hadn’t acted sooner to address the crisis and whether his administration had failed to anticipate the issue.
"Well, that's not actually true," Psaki responded. "The president formed a task force at the very beginning of the administration.
"And what we know from the global supply chain issues is that they are multifaceted," she continued. "Right now, we've been focusing on the ports and issues at the ports, and what leaders at these ports will tell you is that they've seen an increase in volume dramatically as it relates to last year – 20%, 30% increase in volume."
Psaki said part of the administration’s work to address the supply chain has been providing COVID-19 vaccines to countries where manufacturing sites have been shut down due to the pandemic. She also said the administration has been working with state DMVs to expedite their approval of commercial driver's licenses to get more truckers on the road, as well as working with unions "to help address the shortages of workers."
"So I think the important thing to understand here is that there are multiple issues that are impacting the supply chain," she said. "And some of that is that as the economy has turned back on, more people had expendable income, wages to buy more goods, more people are buying more goods. People have started to also buy more things online than going into stores."
Q So just a question on the timing on the supply chain issue —
MS. PSAKI: Yeah.
Q — actions that the President has taken. It was clear in March of 2020, when COVID hit, that the supply chains across the world had been disrupted. Even as the sort of work to fight back against COVID proceeded, people — it was crystal clear that things were not improving on supply chain. People couldn’t get dishwashers and furniture and treadmills delivered on time, not to mention all sorts of other things. So why is it —
MS. PSAKI: The tragedy of the treadmill that’s delayed.
Q Right, the tread — the problem. But serious — the serious point is: Why didn’t the President act sooner in a more aggressive way? I know there was a task force announced at some time this — earlier this summer, but essentially, the President waited until, you know, now — right before the holiday season — to take these series of actions.
Why didn’t the President act sooner? And is that a reflection of the fact that his administration has failed to kind of anticipate and is much more reactive to these kinds of things rather than getting ahead of them, as they should?
MS. PSAKI: Well, that’s not actually true. The President formed of task force at the very beginning of the administration. And what we know from the global supply chain issues is that they are multifaceted.
Right now, we’ve been focusing on the ports and issues at the ports. And what leaders at these ports will tell you is that they’ve seen an increase in volume dramatically, as it relates to last year — a year ago — 20 percent, 30 percent increase in volume.
But there are other issues that have impacted the global supply chain that we’ve been working to address through our task force from the beginning. One of them is the fact that manufacturing sites around the world have been shut down because of COVID.
We’ve been working to be the largest supplier of COVID vaccines to countries around the world for a range of reasons: It’s morally right, but also to help address those global supply chain issues and the impact that manufacturing and the slowdown in manufacturing can have on the global supply chain.
Another issue that people will tell you and you’ve done some reporting on — many of you — is the shortage of drivers that we’ve — we have seen. And there’s been some reporting on it recently, but this has been an issue throughout the course of the year. The DMV, as they — has expedited their approval of commercial driver’s licenses. In 2021, an average of 50,000 commercial driver’s licenses and learning permits have been issued each month, 60 percent higher than 2021 numbers.
We’ve also been working with unions to help address the shortages of workers, whether they are at — they are at ports or whether they are driving issues or other components that impact the supply chain.
So, I think the important thing to understand here is that there are multiple issues that are impacting the supply chain. And some of that is that, as the economy has turned back on, more people had expendable income — wages — to buy more goods. More people are buying more goods. People have started to also buy more things online than going into stores. And so that is also impacting the volume, and there’s a need for more.
So, we’ve been working on this since February, and we’ve seen the uptick perhaps related to the fact that, this season, sometimes people are buying even more goods. But we’ve been working on it since February.
Q Jen —
Go ahead.
Q Jen, I have a follow-up on that (inaudible) question.
NBC News correspondent Yamiche Alcindor worried Democrats would have a difficult time making Americans "care" and pay attention to the January 6 hearings, amid high gas prices, inflation, and a baby formula shortage. Appearing in a MSNBC panel Monday, Alcindor told host Andrea Mitchell that the "biggest challenge" the January 6 House Select Committee faced was getting Americans to have the same level of concern for their investigation. "I think the biggest challenge for lawmakers here as they talk about these sort of huge ideas of American democracy and sort of the experiment that we’re all living and benefiting from possibly being brought to his knees is whether or not they can make people care, Andrea," she said. Link 1 Link 2 Link 3 September 18 Post By Học Để Thi | Breaking News, Latest News and Videos Tranganhnam.xyz
Chris Cuomo and Don Lemon discuss President Donald Trump's comments about race after the 2019 Oscars. Be nice if Spike Lee could read his notes, or better yet not have to use notes at all, when doing his racist hit on your President, who has done more for African Americans (Criminal Justice Reform, Lowest Unemployment numbers in History, Tax Cuts,etc.) than almost any other Pres! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 25, 2019 The left loves to hate on Trump, calling him a racist and what not. I know Trump can be juvenile sometimes – certainly – but the racist and hateful name-calling is just what it is, garbage.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez scrambled Sunday to explain why neighbors at her listed Bronx address never saw her there — and ended up claiming she recently relocatedto a larger place nearby. The day after The Post reported that residents said they had never seen her around — and she ducked questions about it after an appearance — her spokesman said the Democratic freshman congresswoman now lives with her boyfriend in a two-bedroom apartment “a block and a half away.’’ The pair relocated there earlier this month, he said. “She lives in the same neighborhood she’s lived in for years,” said the spokesman, Corbin Trent. “She is not living in the exact same condo.’’ The recent move still didn’t explain why residents at her previous digs — a one-bedroom Bronx condo owned by her mom — insisted they had never seen her there. U.S. reps and senators are required to have a residence in their home districts. Trent claimed that Ocasio-Cortez, 29, was at her new home Sunday afternoon, al
