Joe Biden proposes a multi-million dollar plan to help families and announces that 'America is moving forward again'

Paula Lugones

04/28/2021 11:11 PM

• Clarín.com

• World

Updated 04/28/2021 11:22 PM

The president of the United States, Joe Biden, elected the solemn scope of Congress, in a session before the two legislative chambers and main officials of the country, to take stock of his management and present one of the most ambitious plans of his government: announced on Thursday

an investment plan of 1.8 trillion dollars in children, families and education,

which will be supported by a tax increase on the richest.

"Now, after only 100 days, I can report to the country that the United States is moving forward again,

" Biden told lawmakers, the head of the Supreme Court, and some special guests (all wearing chinstraps), a day before meeting. his first 100 days as head of the White House.

He did it with Vice President Kamala Harris and House Leader Nancy Pelosi sitting behind him, the first time in history that two women - today the most powerful in the country - flank a president's speech.

As a precaution against possible infections, the enclosure was not complete. There were only about 200 people with social distance, when it is usual for a speech of this type to be witnessed by 1,800. Outside, the building was surrounded by concrete fences and a massive security operation, a reminder that the place had been stormed by a violent mob on January 6.

As expected, much of Biden's speech revolved around progress in the fight against the coronavirus, which has already killed 573,000 people in the United States and the president stressed that the goal of applying 200 had been reached. millions of doses and contagion and mortality had been reduced in the country.

He also praised his economic stimulus plan that was approved in Congress, which included aid for health, companies affected by the pandemic and also for citizens, who received checks for 1,400 dollars.

“We are vaccinating the nation.

We are creating hundreds of thousands of jobs.

We are generating real results that people can see and feel in their own lives.

Opening the doors of possibility;

guaranteeing justice ”, said the president.

In one of the most relevant sections of his message, Biden announced that he will propose to Congress the "family plan", which contemplates that qualifying families will receive

$ 250 per month per child until 2025 through tax exemptions

.

There will also be $ 200 billion to fund free kindergarten for all 3- and 4-year-olds and another $ 225 billion to subsidize child care and to invest in child care workers.

In addition, the State will also allocate 109,000 million to pay for two years of studies in higher education institutes.

Funding for the plan will be achieved through a series of tax increases on the wealthiest for which the state hopes to raise $ 1.5 trillion in a decade.

The increase, he said, will be for those who earn more than $ 400,000 per year

.

With this reform, the richest would pay an income tax rate of up to 39.6%, ending with a cut granted by Donald Trump.

The plan also includes eliminating loopholes and tax exemptions for capital income, which will raise billions of dollars, according to the White House.

For the government, this measure will be enough to pay the nearly 2 trillion expenses of this program over 15 years, which aims, he says, to make a more just country.

In a phrase that is sure to make the Republican opposition's skin crawl, Biden said,

"The spill economy never worked. It's time to grow the economy from the bottom up."

Biden also announced that he will promote a $ 2.3 trillion infrastructure and employment plan, which will be financed with higher taxes on large corporations.

"It is the largest employment plan since WWII."

And he spoke of construction of routes, airports, energy works, communications.

"It will generate work," I point out.

And he said that he will target domestic production to replace imported products: "Buy American," he said, to create jobs.

And he clarified that this will not alter international trade agreements.

He also announced his intention to raise the federal minimum wage to $ 15 an hour, an idea strongly resisted by the opposition.

It is already anticipated that Biden's announcements will meet strong opposition from Republicans, who view the aid packages as too "leftist" and radically raise public spending.

Democrats dominate both houses, but their majority is very fair in the Senate.

There will be a fierce fight over these proposals, especially when Biden advocates for a crackdown.

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell dismissed the ads beforehand, saying Biden relies on the deceptive "bait and switch" business technique of luring a customer with a cheap product and then selling him a more expensive one.

"President Biden has campaigned as a moderate, but I find it hard to think that anything he has done so far indicates any degree of restraint," he told CNN.

Republican Senator Marco Rubio said that helping families was fine, but that "it cannot be with a government check, it must be with work."

"You don't have to focus on the family just spending money and creating debt," he added.

An editorial in the conservative Wall Street Journal criticized the unprecedented tax increase since 1968 and a level of spending "never seen since the 1960s."

The morning newspaper regretted that Biden has decided to govern "like Bernie Sanders", the senator and former candidate self-proclaimed "democratic socialist."

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