(Milcah Anila, Intern Journalist) Vijayawada: Joe Biden will be the 46th President of the United States. When he formally announced his entry into the 2020 presidential race, he declared that he stood for two things- workers who “built this country”, and values that can bridge its divisions. Though the leaving President Trump has called Mr. Biden a Trojan horse for the radical left, Mr. Biden has shifted leftward on issues including health care, climate change, and education. But even then, he has hardly embraced the bold agenda.
Here is where Mr. Biden stands on several key issues:
CORONAVIRUS
Mr. Biden claimed that the nation would be better off if he were in charge. His plans for addressing the outbreak include improved testing, expanded production of personal protective equipment, safe vaccine development, and the safe reopening of schools. He has vowed to do “whatever it takes” to stop the pandemic from continuing to spread across the country, including lockdowns if scientists recommend them. Mr. Biden has also said he will ask governors to institute a mask mandate in their states; if they refuse, he will work with local officials to get mandates in place. And he has said he will impose a national mask mandate in federal buildings and on interstate transportation.
HEALTH CARE
Mr. Biden supports expanding the Affordable Care Act and creating a public option — a plan he has nicknamed Biden care. He vowed to ensure that Americans with pre-existing conditions will continue to have access to health care.
He does not support the universal, single-payer health care proposal known as “Medicare for all”. Mr. Biden has also pledged to “reduce the premiums and reduce drug prices by making sure that there’s a competition that doesn’t exist now by allowing Medicare to negotiate drug prices with the insurance companies.”
As Vice President in the Obama Administration, President-Elect Biden has a health care legacy on which to build in the Affordable Care Act. The Biden Administration will seek to build on and expand the ACA, granted the legislation survives a pending SCOTUS challenge.
First, the President-Elect will likely seek to add a public option to the insurance marketplace, ostensibly offering a baseline option. It would automatically cover low-income residents in states that have not expanded Medicaid but who would have been eligible if the state had. Second, the ACA tax credits would be expanded by removing the upper – income cap and limiting spending on insurance to 8.5 percent of household income.
Lastly, President-Elect Biden has outlined in his plan to expand Medicare coverage by lowering the eligibility age threshold from 65 years old to 60, aiming to expand overall coverage and lowering premium prices on the individual marketplace but with increased Medicare costs.
This will be a major challenge to push through Congress as Republicans have been vocal in their opposition, especially to the public option. But there are other areas of health care legislation that may be more conducive to bipartisan action. President-Elect Biden and President Trump both touted plans to lower prescription drug prices, which may convince some Republicans that supporting the proposal to repeal legislation barring Medicare from negotiating drug prices and indexing future cost increases to the inflation rate.
Pharmaceutical companies will likely be in the crosshairs for increased government regulation, and President-Elect Biden has proposed using antitrust actions to curb market concentration in the medical industry. Stopping surprise medical billing could also be another area for bipartisan action.
EDUCATION
Education and tuition were key issues during the Democratic primary, but as the election cycle concluded this year the two presidential candidates have traded few substantial statements on education. Nevertheless, President-Elect Biden has promised comprehensive changes to tuition, federal funding, and college debt. The Initial focus will fall on providing funding for school districts to test and prepare schools nationwide for reopening. The President-Elect has promised to push for a combined $90 billion in funding to support this effort, another $200 billion in general support to K-12 schools, and to improve remote learning possibilities.
ECONOMY
Mr. Biden has a sweeping economic recovery plan, under the moniker “Build Back Better,” that promises to create millions of jobs. In his plan, Mr. Biden has tied the economic revival to tackling climate change, racial equity, and reinvestment in American manufacturing.
Among his proposals are a $300 billion increase in government spending on research and development of technologies, like electric vehicles and 5G cellular networks, and an additional $400 billion in federal procurement spending on products that are manufactured in the United States.
To discourage American companies from moving jobs to other countries, known as offshoring, he proposed a 10 percent “offshoring penalty surtax” that would apply to “profits of any production by a United States company overseas for sales back to the United States.”
Mr. Biden has also said he will change the tax code to reward companies for investing in domestic production. And he has promised to take executive action to ensure the purchase of American goods in the federal procurement process.
TAXES
Mr. Biden wants to partially repeal the Trump tax overhaul, rolling back tax cuts for corporations and the highest earners. He has proposed increasing the corporate tax rate to 28 percent, from 21 percent.
On individual taxes, President-Elect Biden has proposed tax reforms raising the tax burden on high-income earners and investors. On incomes and capital gains above $1 million, the Biden campaign proposed a 39.6 percent tax rate across both income types. It also calls for a return of the estate tax as it was in 2009. Beneficiaries of his plan would primarily be low-income households, which could see expanded tax credits for house purchases, living costs, and ACA premiums.
Tax capital gains and dividends at ordinary rates for those with annual incomes over $1 million
Tax unrealized capital gains at death
Apply Social Security payroll tax for those earning over $400,000 a year
Close the stepped-up basis loophole
Raise the top corporate income tax rate to 28% from 21%
Impose a 15% minimum tax on book income of large companies (at least $100 million annual net income)
Tax profits earned from foreign subsidiaries of U.S. firms at 21%
ENERGY AND CLIMATE POLICY
President-Elect Biden has proposed a $2 trillion federal spending package to rapidly expand R&D and the deployment of renewable energy generation as well as boost energy-saving technologies. At the same time, the Biden Administration is planning to clamp down on polluting industries with expanded reporting requirements and more aggressive enforcement of environmental regulations. While Congressional support would be essential for this plan to be enacted, the goal is to create millions of jobs through the process of transitioning the U.S. energy system toward zero-emission technologies.
TRADE POLICY
The last four years have been tumultuous for international trade, but it is an area where President-Elect Biden is likely to hold on to key parts of the Trump Administration’s policy. Buy American rules, reshoring, and supply chain resilience will be a key focus for the next administration against the backdrop of COVID-19 recovery. Biden has promised extended federal procurement coupled with the more stringent application of current Buy American legislation. Pressure on China through tariffs is also likely to continue until concessions are made. Skepticism of entering FTAs will persist, as the President-Elect has promised to abstain from doing so until his administration determines the U.S. economy to be sufficiently competitive.
FOREIGN POLICY
President-Elect Biden has rejected the Trump Administration’s philosophy for U.S. foreign policy. He has pledged to renew traditional alliances and take a harder stance on combating climate change human rights abuses and democratic backsliding by invigorating international coalitions. By reentering treaties such as the Paris Climate Accord and JCPOA, the goal is to reassert America as a world leader. Biden shares the Trump administration’s principal goal to disengage militarily from “forever wars” in the Middle East, but will likely be less friendly with regional powers such as Saudi Arabia.
The former Vice President has promised to face up to international challenges or adversaries by creating coalitions and reforging alliances with the EU and NATO countries, emphasizing democratic values and expanding U.S. diplomatic efforts. . Relations with China, Russia, and regimes such as the Kim dynasty in North Korea will be strained, and the President-Elect will likely be less prone to engage in negotiations without preconditions. The President-Elect has called for renewed engagement in South America, significantly increasing aid and investments, as well as returning to the path towards normalization with Cuba and Central American countries. For Venezuela, however, little change is likely to come shortly.
Recently, he stretched his hands for cooperation with India
INFRASTRUCTURE
After a campaign themed around the “Build Back Better” slogan, President-Elect Biden will most likely prioritize an infrastructure package as part of the envisioned $2 trillion spending plan on greening the U.S. economy. As much as $1.3 trillion could be dedicated to infrastructure-related programs over the next 10 years. Initial priorities would include $50 billion towards upgrading the existing road network and stabilizing the Highway Trust Fund. Changes to the permitting processes are to expect as well, with potential fast-tracking of critical projects but a higher emphasis on environmental considerations as the new administration gets to work on rolling back the regulatory easing of the Trump administration.
Federal contractors will also face stringent Buy American requirements and new labor rules to comply with, including Senator Merkley’s Good Jobs for 21st Century Energy Act, Project Labor, and Community Workforce Agreements and a possible federal $15 minimum wage requirement. Companies looking at participating in the major projects likely to be pushed by the President-Elect should review their compliance with such potential regulation.
GIG-ECONOMY &SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS
Technology companies will likely face a more challenging regulatory environment under a Democratic Administration. Even as the relations between the industry and the White House have been tense for years, President-Elect Biden will bring a renewed focus to strengthening labor rights in the gig economy.
ANTITRUST &TECHCOMPANIES
Entering the White House in January, President-Elect Biden will inherit not only a major case against Google, the handling of which will signal his administration’s direction, but also a political turning point in the public understanding of the relationship between corporations and public institutions. His party, especially its progressive wing, will be keen to seize this moment.
On Capitol Hill, a series of hearings with tech CEOs have placed antitrust legislation targeting the tech sector as another partisan issue. The House antitrust sub-committee Democrats have proposed wide-ranging action against anti-competitive behaviors. Options presented included mandating structural separations, nondiscrimination rules for giving preference for their services over others on online market places, and restricting what lines of business the large technology companies can operate in. These are likely non-starters for Republicans, who prefer instead to tweak existing law rather than introduce new, broad antitrust legislation.
MADE IN ALL OF AMERICA
In July 2020, Biden proposed a $700 billion plan to boost America’s manufacturing and technological strength. This involves government spending of $400 billion on U.S. goods and services and a $300 billion investment in research and development (R&D) on technologies like electric vehicles, lightweight materials, 5G, and artificial intelligence.
“Biden believes that American workers can out-compete anyone, but their government needs to fight for them,” says his website. “Biden does not accept the defeatist view that the forces of automation and globalization render us helpless to retain well-paid union jobs and create more of them here in America. He does not buy for one second that the vitality of U.S. manufacturing is a thing of the past.”
RURAL AMERICA
Biden wants to help rural communities, which make up 20% of the U.S. population, by fighting for fair trade deals, investing $20 billion in rural broadband infrastructure, creating low-carbon manufacturing jobs, reinvesting in agricultural research, improving access to federal resources and funds for farming or small businesses, expanding health services and medical training programs, and spending 10% of federal program funding in areas with persistent poverty.
About Post Author
