U.S. President Joe Biden has promoted his planned huge investments in social welfare and called for an economic rethink. The country has reached a turning point, Biden said Thursday in Washington.
For a long time, the U.S. economy worked well for large corporations and top earners, according to the report. The rich have become significantly richer in recent years and have benefited from large tax breaks, while many ordinary citizens are struggling to make ends meet, Biden said. This is “simply unfair,” he said. He said it was time to give tax breaks to workers and families and provide them with relief, such as for child care costs or care for dependents.
Biden wants to expand social benefits in the country, such as investing more in education and child care, and provide more support for families and tax relief for them. This is to be financed by tax increases for top earners and more consistent collection of taxes due.
It’s not about punishing anyone, the U.S. president said. “I’m a capitalist.” He said it’s just about making sure top earners and large corporations pay their fair share. Taxpayers with annual incomes of less than $400,000 should not have to pay higher levies, he stressed.
Biden’s Democrats had introduced the framework for his new plans – a package worth some $3.5 trillion (about three trillion euros) – to the U.S. Senate in August. Details have been worked out in recent weeks. However, there is still a long way to go before Congress votes on it. The plan is meeting with fierce resistance from Republicans because of the large amount of money involved. But there are still discussions among Democrats as well: Some in the party think the plans go too far, while others think they don’t go far enough.