Biden Presses Democrats to Pass $1.85 Trillion Build Back
Better Plan
President Joe Biden went to Capitol Hill Thursday with an urgent
message for lawmakers still debating his domestic agenda: "We badly
need a vote."
Aiming to unify Democrats behind a slimmed-down, $1.85 trillion
version of his Build Back Better plan, Biden delayed a trip to
Europe by a few hours to plead with House Democrats to embrace the
proposal.
In a closed-door meeting, Biden touted his "framework" for the
plan, a still-developing draft that was released to the public
later in the day. Biden pushed House Democrats to move quickly to
approve his spending plan, thereby opening the door to a vote on a
separate bipartisan infrastructure bill that has been on hold since
August. "We have a framework that will get 50 votes in the United
States Senate," Biden reportedly said. "I don’t think it’s
hyperbole to say that the House and Senate majorities and my
presidency will be determined by what happens in the next
week."
Together, the bills would unlock roughly $3 trillion in spending
on a wide variety of public investments and social programs over
the next 10 years.
But while many lawmakers offered an enthusiastic reception to
Biden’s plea – twice rising to their feet during the meeting to
chant "Vote, vote, vote!" according to one attendee – others were
wary, citing uncertainty about the final shape of the bill as well
as concerns about its support in the Senate.
Progressives defy Biden and Pelosi: With the release of
the framework, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) is pushing for an
immediate vote on the bipartisan infrastructure bill, which has
already been passed by the Senate but has been delayed as part of
the struggle over the larger Build Back Better plan.
Liberal Democrats aren’t on board yet, sticking to their
strategy of withholding support for the smaller infrastructure bill
in order to pressure conservative Democratic senators to back
Biden’s larger spending plan. On Thursday they said that the
release of the framework was not enough to win their support for
the infrastructure bill, forcing Democratic leaders to again
abandon efforts to hold a vote on the bill.
In the meeting with Biden, Pelosi amped up the pressure by
warning Democrats not to "embarrass" the president by rejecting the
infrastructure bill just as he was headed overseas to meet with
allies. But that threat was not enough to bring the progressives
into the fold, and with success in question, a vote is not expected
Thursday – though the situation remains fluid and a vote could
occur in the coming days.
Progressives need more: Following their meeting with
Biden, progressive lawmakers said they need to see more details
about the plan and be convinced that it would win 50 votes in the
Senate before they agree to vote in support of the bipartisan
infrastructure bill.
"We enthusiastically endorse the framework that the president
laid out today," Progressive Caucus chair Pramila Jayapal (D-WA)
said after the meeting. However, "there are too many no votes for
the [bipartisan infrastructure bill] to pass."
Asked about supporting the smaller infrastructure bill following
Biden’s plea for unity, Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) offered a
succinct reply: "Hell no."
Rep. Cori Bush (D-M)), another key progressive vote, defended
their approach. "We need both bills to ride together. And we don’t
have that right now," Bush said. "I feel a bit bamboozled because
this was not what I thought was coming today," she added, citing
the framework’s weaker-than-expected family benefits.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) said he would push to improve the
latest framework by putting provisions related to Medicare benefit
expansion and federal authority to negotiate drug prices back into
the bill. "What I would say is you have the outline of a very
significant piece of legislation — I want us to make it better,"
Sanders said.
Major hurdles remain: While progressive House Democrats
indicated that they support Biden’s plan "in principle," they made
it clear that they need two things before they’re willing to move
forward to a vote on the infrastructure bill.
First, they need to see final text of the Build Back Better
bill, which, despite Pelosi’s assurances to the contrary, is still
just a draft, and an incomplete one at that. "We understand that
it's 90 percent written," Jayapal told reporters, "that 10 percent
should just hopefully be very quick." Final text would allow both
bills to advance at the same time, a key demand for
progressives.
Second, some progressives are saying they need to hear that the
two main obstacles to passing the bill in the Senate — Democratic
Sens. Joe Manchin (WV) and Kyrsten Sinema (AZ) — are on board with
the plan. Neither senator offered clear public statements of
support Thursday.
Instead, Sinema said simply that she and the White House "have
made significant progress on the proposed budget reconciliation
package," while Manchin deflected a question about his support,
saying, "This is all in the hands of the House right now."
Underlining the importance of being certain about the support of
the two conservative Democratic senators, Sanders backed the
approach House progressives are taking. "I think both of the bills
are linked and I think the House of Representatives has a right to
know before they sign off on the infrastructure bill that the 50
senators are prepared to support a strong reconciliation," Sanders
said.
The bottom line: The White House and
Democrats took a big step forward Thursday, greatly improving the
odds that a big chunk of Biden’s agenda will become law. But
important details still need to be ironed out, leaving the whole
effort in a state of flux that could persist for days or
longer.
What’s In and What’s Out of Biden’s New Build Back Better
Framework
The White House’s latest Build Back Better framework would
increase spending and reduce taxes by $1.85 trillion over 10 years,
including $1.75 trillion for social and climate programs and $100
billion for immigration reform, a provision that is contingent upon
a ruling by the Senate parliamentarian as to whether it complies
with the budget reconciliation rules Democrats want to use to pass
the package.
The package also includes a host of tax changes that the White
House says would more than fully pay for the new costs, raising up
to $1.995 trillion — though budget watchers warn that the plan
relies too heavily on
accounting gimmicks like artificial sunsets for
programs that mean the long-term cost of new programs isn’t really
covered.
Here’s a rundown of what’s included, and what got left out, of
Biden’s framework.
WHAT’S IN
Universal preschool: The plan would establish universal,
free preschool for all 3- and 4-year-olds, expanding access for
more than 6 million children, the White House says. It adds that
parents will be able to send their children to preschool in the
setting of their choice, from public schools to child care
providers to Head Start.
The framework would also cap families’ child care costs at a
maximum of 7% of income for families earning up to 2.5 times their
state’s median income. The child care plan includes a work
requirement for parents. These programs would be funded for six
years at a cost of $400 billion.
Expanded Child Tax Credit for 2022: The American Rescue
Plan passed earlier this year expanded the Child Tax Credit from
$2,000 per child to $3,000 or $3,600 per child, depending on age,
for couples making up to $150,000 or single parents making up to
$112,500. It also made the credit fully refundable. The new
framework would extend that expansion for one year, less than the
four years Democrats had previously sought. Democrats still hope to
extend the credit again, but if lawmakers don’t act, it would
revert to $2,000 per child. The new framework would, however, make
refundability of the credit permanent.
Expanded health care subsidies and coverage: The
framework would provide $130 billion to expand Medicaid coverage
and extend expanded Affordable Care Act subsidies for three years,
through 2025.
The White House says the plan would provide $0 Affordable Care
Act premiums to uninsured people in states that have not expanded
Medicaid, leading to some 4 million people gaining coverage. And it
estimates that premiums for 9 million Americans who buy their
health insurance through the Affordable Care Act Marketplace would
fall by an average of $600 per person per year.
The framework also expands Medicare coverage for hearing
services at a cost of $35 billion, though it does not include the
more expensive dental or vision coverage that progressives had
sought.
Climate provisions: The plan would provide $555 billion
for various programs to promote clean energy sources and combat
climate change, including $320 billion for ten years of expanded
tax credits; $110 billion in investments and incentives for clean
energy, technology, manufacturing, and supply chains; $105 billion
for investments and incentives to improve resiliency to extreme
weather; and $20 billion in incentives to promote government
procurement of clean energy technology. In all, the White House
touts the package as the largest effort to combat the climate
crisis in U.S. history.
Affordable housing: The plan provides $150 billion to
enable the construction or improvement of more than 1 million
affordable homes and invest in rental assistance by providing
vouchers to hundreds of thousands more families, The White House
says.
Tax changes: To raise revenue, the plan calls for a new
5% surtax on individual incomes over $10 million and an additional
3% surtax on income above $25 million. It also includes a 15%
minimum tax on the profits of corporations with over $1 billion in
profits report to shareholders, a 15% global minimum tax for
corporations, a 1% tax on stock buybacks, a 50% minimum tax on
foreign profits of U.S. corporations and increased funding for IRS
enforcement to crack down on tax avoidance by the wealthy. In all,
the White House says those tax changes would raise about $1.8
trillion over 10 years, while repealing a Trump-era drug rebate
rule would add another $145 billion.
The plan also includes funding for elder care, Pell Grants and
free school meals.
WHAT'S OUT
Paid family and medical leave: This was a priority for
many Democrats, and a campaign promise by Biden. The White House
tried to pare back the original plan to provide 12 weeks of
guaranteed paid family and medical leave for every worker, offering
four weeks instead, but it could not overcome the objections of
Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV).
Free community college: A Biden plan for two years of
tuition-free community college was scrapped relatively early
on.
Lowering prescription drug costs: Some Democrats had
pushed to allow Medicare to negotiate drug prices, but the idea met
with resistance from some in the party — and fierce pushback from
the pharmaceutical industry and Republicans.
Expanded Medicare coverage for dental and vision: Sen.
Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and progressives had made hearing, dental and
vision coverage a priority, but the White House plan leaves out the
two most complicated and expensive portions of the plan.
Higher corporate and individual income tax rates and a
billionaire tax: These ideas fell by the wayside after
Democrats struggled to reach consensus.
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News
Biden Goes All-In to End Deadlock With $1.75 Trillion
Blueprint – Bloomberg
Biden Announces ‘Historic’ Deal — But Still Must Win
Votes – Associated Press
Manchin Signals He’ll Support $1.75T Price Tag for Spending
Plan – The Hill
Biden’s $1.75 Trillion Gambit Shifts Focus to Democrats’
Divides – Bloomberg
Infrastructure Vote Looks Shaky as Progressives Balk,
Again – Roll Call
Liberals Defy Pelosi, Say They’ll Block Infrastructure
Bill – The Hill
Liberals Weigh Their Options: Settle For Half a Loaf, or
Fight – Politico
Democrats Vow to Continue Fight on Drug Pricing in Budget
Bill – Roll Call
Biden Heads to Global Climate Summit With Agenda Still
Half-Baked – Politico
‘Inexcusable’: Democrats Draw Heat From Paid Leave
Advocates – The Hill
Chicago Passes Budget With One of Country’s Largest Universal
Basic Income Programs – The Hill
Billionaires’ Wealth Has Soared 70% In the Pandemic. That’s
One Reason Why Democrats Wanted to Tax Them –
CNN
Views and Analysis
What Cowards the Democrats Have Become on Taxes –
Catherine Rampell, Washington Post
In the Biden Bill, the Billionaires Beat the Working
Rich – Neil Irwin, New York Times
The Build Back Better Framework: The Good, the Bad, the
Ugly – Eric Levitz, New York
Joe Manchin May Soon Do Us All a Little-Noticed
Favor – Paul Waldman and Greg Sargent, Washington
Post
The Pro–Trump Tax Cuts Caucus – David Dayen,
American Prospect
When the World Is on the Brink, $3.5 Trillion Is a
Pittance – Abrahm Lustgarten, New York Times
Get Real, Democrats, and Pass Biden’s Plan –
Eugene Robinson, Washington Post
Biden’s Build Back Better Proposal Gives Away the Democrats’
Game – Henry Olsen, Washington Post
Leaving Paid Family Leave Out of Build Back Better Is a
Tragedy – Molly Osberg, New Republic
The President’s Plan Is Imperfect, but a Big Step Forward for
the Country – Washington Post Editorial Board
Tax the Rich! – Peter Singer, Project
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