US President Joe Biden on Thursday touted a “historic” plan to remake the US economy, as he sought to pressure critics within his own Democratic Party to back the bill after months of tortuous negotiations. .
Biden entrusts his legacy to the approval of the “Build Back Better” package (BBB, or Rebuild Better), a set of social spending measures for US $ 1.75 trillion that seeks a more equitable and greener society and the jewel of the crown of his government agenda.
Just before leaving for Europe for the G20 summit and COP26, the president announced that he was confident of receiving legislative support for a revised spending framework, although it remains to be seen whether his efforts galvanized the party’s contested grassroots.
“I know we have a historic economic framework,” Biden said in an address to the nation from the White House, shortly after meeting with Democratic leaders in Congress.
“It is a framework that will create millions of jobs, grow the economy, invest in our nation and our people, turn the climate crisis into an opportunity, and set us on a path not only to compete, but to win economic competition for the century. XXI against China and all the other major countries in the world, “he said.
The BBB, which can define Biden’s mandate with reforms in education, healthcare, child care and clean energy, is linked to another ambitious bill under discussion in Congress for some $ 1.2 trillion in improvements to roads, bridges and other works.
Nancy Pelosi, a key Biden ally and Speaker of the House of Representatives, told reporters she wanted a vote on infrastructure this Sunday, Oct. 31, when funding for numerous federal ground transportation programs runs out.
“Great vision”
The vote has been delayed multiple times in the past six weeks as more radical Democrats have insisted they will not endorse the infrastructure bill unless their priorities are listed on the BBB.
Democrats on the left wing said they needed to see a final text on that social package before committing to vote on the infrastructure one, prompting party leaders to publish the 2,468-page bill.
If enacted, it would provide universal preschool education for three- and four-year-olds, expand government-supported health care coverage for at least four years, and reduce the country’s greenhouse gas emissions for a decade.
However, key progressive priorities, such as offering 12 weeks of paid maternity / paternity leave, guaranteeing free community college studies, and reforming sky-high prices for prescription drugs, were left out of the new framework.
Pelosi described the legislation as “transformative and cause for celebration,” while acknowledging her disappointment that family leave has been left out.
“It’s remarkable because it’s a big vision, a bigger vision than we’ve seen in a long time, maybe going back to President Franklin Roosevelt in the New Deal, and in some ways Lyndon Johnson, who also had a big agenda.” , said.
Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema, two conservative Democratic senators who consider the social spending component too expensive, sounded positive but did not commit to support Biden’s framework.
Another top negotiating figure, leftist Senator Bernie Sanders, said he saw “big loopholes” in the plan.
Trust in full support
But Biden urged that his party finally put aside its divisions and unite.
“We spent hours and hours and hours for months and months working on this,” Biden recalled. “Nobody got everything they wanted, including me.”
Biden hoped to get a vote in Congress before flying to Rome, to the G20, and then next week to a UN climate summit in Glasgow.
But while Democrats control both houses of Congress, the margins are so narrow – just one vote up in the Senate and a handful in the House – that it makes it torturous to pass important laws.
Biden has downgraded his wishes greatly, cutting his original $ 3.5 trillion social spending plan by nearly half.
But even the reduced spending framework would represent a major legislative victory a year after Biden defeated Donald Trump on a promise to heal America’s “soul.”
And despite the Democratic debate, a senior White House official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said: “The president believes this framework will win the support of all 50 Democratic senators and pass the House.”
“I see the framework as an opportunity to reach the end goal,” Democratic Senator Bob Menendez told MSNBC.
AFP
