US President Joe Biden on Thursday celebrated the agreement on the Inflation Reduction 2022 bill reached between Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Democratic Senator Joe Manchin.
Last year Biden had made a proposal of 3.5 billion dollars to Congress, which was reduced to only 2 billion last November after the insistence of Senator Manchin to cut spending.
The legislative package was left at 739,000 million dollars, aimed at lessening the blows to the US economy, affected by the coronavirus pandemic and then the implications of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which has raised fuel costs worldwide.
On Wednesday, the Commerce Department reported that the US economy shrank between April and June for the second consecutive quarter, contracting 0.9% annually, raising fears of a recession.
The president said the legislation would give Medicare the power to negotiate better prices for medicines for those who need them.
Speaking to reporters from the White House, Biden said the bill “will be the most important investment, without exaggeration, that we’ve ever made in energy security, savings, job creation, and clean energy solutions for the future. It’s very important”.
Biden assured that once the program is implemented, large corporations will be forced to pay a minimum of 15% in taxes.
Biden promised that the package will not raise taxes on anyone making less than $400,000 a year.
The Senate is expected to vote on the measure next week, which would give President Biden a new lease of life ahead of November’s midterm elections, in which Democratic control of Congress is heavily threatened by Republicans.
The bill would spend $369 billion on energy and climate change initiatives and $64 billion to extend federal subsidies for three more years for some people who buy private health insurance.
It will also offer incentives for the purchase of “new or used” electric or hybrid vehicles, he said, and is projected to offer a credit of up to $7,500 if they are made in the US.
Biden was hopeful that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will get the bill passed.
In addition, the Democrat urged Congress to approve his proposal, for the benefit of Americans. “Let’s put politics aside and get to work,” Biden insisted.
House Republican leader Senator Kevin McCarthy said earlier in a tweet that “the administration has just announced what all Americans have been feeling for almost a year: We are in a recession.”
However, Biden said that after consulting with experts, the rise in inflation is not necessarily a recession if the high rates of job creation and the large investments that businesses have been able to make in the US in recent times are taken into account.
News in development
This report was supplemented with information from the agency services of the Voice of America
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