US President Joe Biden unveiled details of his $1.75 trillion Build Back Better framework for social and climate spending bill at a news conference Thursday at the White House.
"After months of tough negotiations, we have a strong and historic economic framework," he said, which will create millions of jobs, grow the economy, invest in people and turn the climate crisis into an opportunity to win the economic competition of the 21st century.
"It's fiscally responsible, it's fully paid for. 17 Nobel prize winners in economics have said it will lower the inflationary pressures on the economy. Over the next 10 years, it will not add to the deficit at all. It will actually reduce the deficit," he added.
Biden said American infrastructure used to be considered the best in the world, but it is ranked 13th today by the World Economic Forum.
American education is ranked 35th of 37 major countries by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development in early childhood education.
"We need to build America from the bottom up and the middle, not from the top-down," he said.
Biden said millions of Americans are in "the so-called sandwich generation," who feel financially squeezed by raising a child and caring for an aging parent.
"About 820,000 seniors in America and people with disabilities have applied for Medicaid to get home care," he said. "We are going to expand services for seniors."
Biden noted that the US used to rank seventh among advanced economies 30 years ago in the share of working women, but today it is 23rd.
"Today, there are nearly two million women in America not working simply because they cannot afford childcare," he said, noting that families spend on average $11,000 - $14,500 per year on childcare.
"We are going to make sure all families earning less than $300,000 a year will pay no more than 7% of their income in childcare. And, for a family making a $100,000 a year, that will save them more than $5,000 in childcare," he said.
The president said studies show that when 3- and 4-year-olds are put through school, the chances to earn a college degree, regardless of background, is increased to 47%.
On climate change, Biden said his framework will reduce more than 1 billion metric tons of emission, which will provide up to a 52% emission reduction by 2030.
It will include tax credits for individuals to use less energy at home, solar panels and help businesses produce more clean energy, he said.
"Ninety-five percent of the 840,000 school buses in America run on diesel. Every day, more than 25 million children and thousands of bus drivers breathe polluted air on the way to and from their schools from diesel exhaust. We are going to replace thousands of these with electric school buses," he said. "We will build the first-ever national network of 500,000 electric vehicle charging stations all across the country.”
In addition to electric vehicles, other environmental measures include solar panels, wind farms and credits for manufacturing, he said.
Biden stressed that extreme weather events cost the US $99 billion in damages last year.
Regarding transportation infrastructure, Biden said there are 45,000 bridges and 173,000 miles of roads that are in poor condition.
He said his framework will not increase taxes for anyone making less than $400,000 a year and argued that it would instead reduce the deficit.
"All I am asking is pay your fair share," he said, as he leaned toward the podium and repeated the phrase three times.
"Right now, many are paying virtually nothing. Last year, 55 most profitable corporations in America paid zero federal income tax of about $40 billion of profit," he said.
Biden said his framework will have a minimum tax of 15% on large corporations, noting that the top 1% of the wealthiest Americans are estimated to have evaded $160 billion annually in federal taxes.
"For much too long, working people of this nation and the middle-class of this country have been dealt out of the American deal. It is time to deal them back in," he said.
Details of framework
"For too long, the economy has worked great for those at the top, while working families continually get squeezed,” the White House said in a statement. "After hearing input from all sides and negotiating in good faith with Senators (Joe) Manchin and (Kyrsten) Sinema, Congressional Leadership, and a broad swath of Members of Congress, President Biden is announcing a framework for the Build Back Better Act," it said.
It said Biden is confident that the framework can pass both houses of Congress and he looks forward to signing it into law, adding he called on Congress to take up the bill, in addition to the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, as quickly as possible.
The framework includes investment in children to deliver two years of free preschool for every 3- and 4-year-old, and give more than 35 million families a major tax cut by extending the expanded Child Tax Credit.
In the fight against climate change, the framework will cut greenhouse gas pollution well over 1 gigaton in 2030, reduce consumer energy costs and invest in a clean energy economy, from buildings, transportation, industry, electricity and agriculture to climate smart practices across lands and waters.
In health care, it aims to reduce premiums for more than 9 million Americans by extending the expanded Premium Tax Credit, deliver health care coverage for up to 4 million who are uninsured in states that have locked them out of Medicaid, and help older Americans access affordable hearing care by expanding Medicare.
The framework will also make comprehensive investments in affordable housing, expand access to high-quality education and cut taxes for 17 million low-wage workers, advance investments in maternal health, nutrition, community violence interventions, in addition to better preparation for future pandemics and supply chain disruptions.
Biden spoke to the House of Representatives Democratic Caucus early Thursday to provide an update about the Build Back Better agenda and the bipartisan Infrastructure Deal on Capitol Hill, which was closed to the media.
After the president entered the Capitol, he answered "yes" when asked if he had enough support to get progressive Democrats on board, saying "it’s a good day."
When a reporter asked if Senator Bernie Sanders was on board, Biden answered: "Everybody’s on board."
A few protesters outside were holding a sign that read "Biden keep your promises: We want to live."/aa
