WASHINGTON—The House of Representatives is poised to pass a major component of President Biden’s domestic agenda on Friday, seeking to push into law the climate, tax and healthcare package that seemed dead just weeks ago. limited the efforts of the Democratic Party to
Lawmakers will return a day from their planned summer vacation to vote on a bill facing unanimous Republican opposition. Biden plans to sign the bill soon afterward. The Senate approved it on Sunday.
The bill would put more than $370 billion into climate and energy programs aimed at reducing the United States’ greenhouse gas emissions by an estimated 40% over 10 years from 2005 levels. It also extends the expanded subsidies under the Affordable Care Act for three years, allows Medicare to directly negotiate prices, and sets an annual out-of-pocket cap on medical costs to reduce the cost of prescription drugs. Accomplishes a long-standing Democrat goal of lowering. $2,000 recipient.
The package will be funded primarily by tax increases, including a new tax on corporate stock buybacks and a 15% minimum corporate tax for wealthy companies. An initial analysis of the law found it could reduce the country’s deficit by up to $300 billion over 10 years.
In a letter to colleagues this week, California House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said, “This life-changing law increases the clout of people’s interests over special interests.” It makes a big difference on the table,” she added.
What the climate, health and tax bills say
Passing the bill would mark the end of arduous negotiations for Democrats. For more than a year, they have not only appeased the Left to pass sweeping plans to transform the country’s social safety net, but have also helped to bolster the political power of major centrists reluctant to support billions of people. We worked hard to find a compromise that secured holdout votes. New spending increased as inflation rose.
The bill falls well short of the $2.2 trillion Build Better Act that Pelosi passed in the House in November. In addition to drastic changes to tax law, the bill would spend billions of dollars to create a federal paid vacation program, help most families with children, and expand housing, home care, and public education. was included. A month later, centrist Democrat West stalled in the Senate when Virginia Senator Joe Manchin III rejected it as outrageous and walked away from negotiations.
But the final result, dubbed the Inflation Cut Act, is a key victory just months before Democrats defend a narrow congressional majority in November’s midterm elections. In the letter, Pelosi acknowledged that some priorities had been dropped to assemble a narrower package, vowing that “we must never give up on that fight and will continue it with future legislation.” rice field.
At one point, talks between Mr. Manchin and majority leader Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York stalled last month, with Democrats grappling with the possibility of enacting just the health care package. They rallied in support of the plan once a deal was struck that included climate change priorities and some tax increases.
“We are heartbroken to see several key factors about health economics, housing and immigration left on the cutting room floor. We know that the Republican effort to remove the price cap on the US has been successful, taking a real step forward on key progressive priorities,” said Rep. Pramila Jayapal of Washington, chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus. He said in a statement after the bill passed in the Senate.
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Some centrist Democrats, especially those from high-income states, have threatened to withhold the vote if the bill doesn’t address the cap on how much families can deduct from state and local taxes, but support expressed.
Rep. Mickey Sherrill, a Democrat for New Jersey, said, “While this bill won’t raise taxes for families in my precinct, it will actually lower their costs significantly, so I’m voting for it.
Biden expands $280 billion industrial policy bill to boost U.S. semiconductor manufacturing to make it more competitive with China, and medical benefits for veterans exposed to military-burnt garbage fire Its passage is expected to take place a few days after signing both laws. Base, the latest in a string of legislative successes.
With Republicans unanimously opposing the package, Democrats used a rapid budget adjustment process to get the bill through both houses, as they did with the $1.9 trillion pandemic aid package last year. Republicans, who were completely cut off from the process, were outraged that the bill did little to address inflation and criticized plans to raise taxes and boost federal spending. (Many economists agree it will likely dampen inflation, but not soon.)
Rep. Tom Cole said, “Having been left with a ‘take or leave’ proposal by Senate Democrats without an opportunity to comment or amend the bill, the majority again voted simply to take it. “I am appalled at the choice,” he said. The top Republican on the House Rules Committee, an Oklahoma representative, said at a hearing Wednesday: “It should come as no surprise that no Republican voted for this bill any more than no Republican voted for the final settlement bill.”
Republicans have directed some anger at a proposal to invest $80 billion in the Internal Revenue Service. Democrats say it will strengthen historically underfunded government agencies and help crack down on wealthy tax evaders and corporations, while Republicans turn it into a heavy-handed attack on lower- and middle-class taxpayers. In response to the criticism, Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen this week directed officials not to increase audits of small businesses and families with less than $400,000.
Some scoffed at the fact that the entire House would not be present to vote on legislation. As of Friday morning, more than a third of his members of Congress cited an “ongoing public health emergency” as the reason they could not vote, a proxy introduced to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. I submitted the necessary documents for voting. directly.
“This Proxy Vote” — thanks to lies by most parties (signatures saying they are COVID related) to (illegally) raise taxes, harmful energy regulations, and fund IRS agents to harass citizens will be used. Texas Republican Rep. Chip Roy on Twitter.
The package will help move the Biden administration toward delivering on its promise to cut emissions by about half by 2030, but scientists and climate activists say Congress and administration will have to wait to meet that goal. It warns that further action will be required by This tax law allows consumers and businesses to purchase electric vehicles, solar panels, renewable energy sources such as wind and solar power, and the facilities needed to build more of these items in the country. It is intended to encourage investment.
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