Alexey Naumov
The American social system is one step away from truly tectonic changes – Democratic senators are preparing a record infusion in medicine and education. They want to guarantee citizens four additional years of free education, give pensioners the opportunity to receive dental and ophthalmological care at the expense of the state, as well as introduce maternity leave and sick leave. The Republicans are unable to prevent their opponents, but they are preparing a blow to democratic initiatives from the other side.
“These are big and ambitious changes – the very changes that America yearns for,” Senator Chuck Schumer, Democratic Majority Leader of the Upper House of Congress, described the Democrats’ ambitious plan. He explained that the American people do not expect that one law can solve all the problems of the country, but change must be started with courage and determination. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi endorsed the party member, saying that “a revolutionary budget resolution will fulfill the vision of President Biden and Congressional Democrats.”
The $ 3.5 trillion project is truly revolutionary – the US social sphere has not known such infusions since the 1960s, when the so-called great society laws were adopted.
Firstly, the project proposes to extend the already adopted innovations, such as subsidies for health insurance and monthly payments for children – recall that most American families, except for very well-to-do families, from spring receive about $ 300 per child per month. Initially, it was planned that payments will stop next year, but the Democrats are proposing to extend them: it is expected that this measure will halve the number of children living in poverty.
Second – and this is perhaps even more important – the budget resolution involves the creation of many new “social safety nets.” For example, there are plans to expand Medicare coverage, which is used by the vast majority of Americans over 65 or younger people with disabilities, where Democrats are proposing to include dental and eye care. There are also plans to expand the free education system to include two years of kindergarten and two years of community college (a kind of technical schools). It is also possible to establish a full-fledged system of paid maternity leave and paid sick leave. It is also proposed to take a number of measures aimed at reducing the cost of drugs: Americans spend more money on them than citizens of any other country in the world.
But that’s not all: by proposing a budget resolution, the authors also want to promote their version of the future – changes are proposed to the Tax Code designed to stimulate the market for electric vehicles. An idea is being considered to sponsor research examining the impact of agriculture on climate change, as well as ways to reduce the number of forest fires and harmful emissions. It is also envisaged to create a so-called civilian climatic corps, whose workers will work to protect the shores from erosion and, in general, fight the consequences of climate change.
To reduce the human impact on nature, the plan provides subsidies to those electricity companies that ditch coal and gas in favor of solar, wind or fission atom energy.
It is planned to sponsor all large-scale programs with the help of tax increases while maintaining the presidential promise not to take additional money from those who earn less than $ 400 thousand a year.
That is, corporations and wealthy Americans will pay. It is also planned to stimulate Americans to pay taxes domestically; for this, the tax on income abroad is proposed to be doubled, to 21%.
It is noteworthy that almost all measures can be taken by a simple majority, which the Democrats have in both houses of the American Congress. The only thing that the Democrats will not be able to take alone is measures to facilitate the acquisition of citizenship by tens of millions of illegal migrants and to strengthen the protection of workers’ rights. That is why they are likely to be excluded from the final version of the budget.
Joe Biden will have to convince party members to close ranks: it is known that some moderate Democrats (especially in districts where their Republican rivals are serious competition for them) are not convinced of the need for such large-scale government spending, leading to an increase in public debt.
Actually, it is through the national debt that the Republicans intend to act, annoyed by the fact that their point of view is being ignored.
To raise his limit, in the almost equally divided (51-50) Senate, it is necessary to find at least ten Republican votes. “Democrats want Republicans to help them raise the national debt limit so that they continue to spend record amounts of money without participation and without votes from the Republicans. If they believe that 50 votes of Democrats is enough to spend trillions of dollars, then let those 50 votes finance them all, ”said Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell. According to his party members, they do not intend to make concessions without some “structural changes.”
The issue of the American national debt is becoming more and more relevant: during the presidency of Donald Trump, it grew by 40% and reached almost $ 28 trillion due to tax cuts and large-scale assistance programs for the economy affected by the coronavirus pandemic. According to US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, the critical date for the country will be October 1: on the first day of the new fiscal year, it will be necessary to spend $ 150 billion on various payments. “Congress must act as before to protect the trust and respect of the United States,” said Ms. Yellen , adding that the default would cause irreparable damage to the US economy and the standard of living of all Americans.
