Biden will outline his latest plan during his prime-time speech, scheduled to begin at 9 p.m. EDT on Wednesday, when he’ll also celebrate early accomplishments of his presidency including an accelerated vaccination campaign that has helped reduce U.S. Covid-19 cases and deaths. He’ll also discuss his proposals to combat climate change and his foreign policy, particularly the U.S. relationship with China, a person familiar with the speech said.
His ambitions face a tough audience in the narrowly divided Congress, with Republicans already balking at any tax increases and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell calling the president’s latest proposal a “liberal wish list.” Without a vote to spare in the Senate, Biden must keep Democrats united to pass the package in any form, and he’ll need to both assure moderate Democrats up for re-election in 2022 that his proposals won’t be a liability while also appeasing the liberal wing of his party.
Some progressive House lawmakers have already expressed frustration that the American Families Plan doesn’t include more provisions to lower health-care costs or expand health insurance coverage.
A key lawmaker, Democratic Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia, suggested Tuesday he is cool to tax increases other than raising the rate for corporations to 25%, saying he first wants to explore why the government doesn’t already collect as much as it’s owed.
“Don’t you think we ought to figure out why we’re not collecting what we’re asking for and what people owe?” he said. “I want to figure that out first.”
Historic Speech
The latest plan does not propose to expand the estate tax, a promise from Biden’s 2020 campaign. All of the new programs he envisions would unfold over a 10-year period.
In assembling Biden’s latest proposal, White House aides sought to ensure that each line item enjoyed decent support among congressional lawmakers, said one Biden ally. That consideration contributed to an estate-tax increase falling out of the plan.
Biden aides were equally wary of doing too much on health care. Any changes would have added to the cost of the proposal, and the White House is also concerned that the issue could become a political vulnerability for Democrats, as it was after the passage of the Affordable Care Act in 2010.
The only health-care provision is a proposal to extend additional tax credits from the pandemic relief law to help middle-income people pay for Obamacare plans.
Biden’s televised speech—the equivalent of a State of the Union address, which won’t take place until his second year in office—will bring home to viewers both the new political reality of Washington and the continuing pandemic.
He’ll speak in the House chamber to an audience at less than a fifth of its capacity, because of concerns about coronavirus transmission. But for the first time in American history, two women will stand behind the president on the House rostrum—Harris and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
—With assistance from Erik Wasson.
This article was provided by Bloomberg News.