Biden Unveils Framework For $1.75 Trln Social Spending Package

U.S. President Joe Biden on Thursday unveiled a framework for a US$1.75-trillion social spending package following weeks of intensive negotiations with congressional Democrats.

RELATED:

US Economy Slows in Third Quarter Amid Delta Surge, Bottleneck

The "Build Back Better Framework" (BBBF) includes US$555 billion in clean energy and climate investments, US$400 billion in funding for child care and free preschool, US$200 billion in child tax & earned income tax credits, and US$150 billion in investments for affordable housing.

The framework seeks to impose new taxes on the largest corporations and the wealthiest Americans to raise revenue of around US$2 trillion over a decade to fully pay for the social spending plan.

If passed, the BBBF will impose a 15 percent minimum tax on corporate profits for firms with earnings over 1 billion dollars reported to shareholders, and a 1 percent surcharge on corporate stock buybacks.

The framework would also apply a 5 percent surtax rate on individual incomes above US$10 million and an additional 3 percent surtax on incomes above US$25 million. The framework is far smaller than Biden's original US$3.5 trillion proposal, and it has not been written into legislative language yet.

"No one got everything they wanted, including me, but that's what compromise is. That's consensus… Given half a chance, the American people have never ever, ever, ever left the country down, so let's get this done," Biden said, urging Congress to pass both the social spending package and the bipartisan infrastructure bill.

It's not clear whether the framework would pave the way for the House of Representatives to approve the US$1.2-trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill that was passed by the Senate earlier this year. Progressive House Democrats have held up the Senate-passed bill for months, demanding a vote on the larger social spending plan.