Biden signs Democrats’ landmark bill
Biden signs massive climate and health care legislation.
President Joe Biden signed Democrats’ landmark climate change and health-care legislation into law on Tuesday, completing the “final piece” of his pared-down domestic agenda as he seeks to strengthen his party’s position with voters less than three months before the midterm elections.
The legislation features the largest federal investment in climate change history – $375 billion over a decade – and would cap prescription drug expenditures for Medicare users at $2,000 out-of-pocket per year. It would also assist an estimated 13 million Americans in affording health insurance by continuing subsidies offered during the coronavirus outbreak.
During a bill-signing ceremony at the White House, US President Barack Obama praised the law as a historic piece of legislation that would decrease healthcare costs for millions of Americans while also assisting in the fight against climate change.
“With this law, the American people won and the special interests lost,” Biden said. “Today offers further proof that the soul of America is vibrant, the future of America is bright and the promise of America is real and just beginning.”
The law, technically known as the Inflation Reduction Act, was enacted by the House on a party-line vote of 220 to 207 four days earlier. Previously, the bill was approved by the Senate on a party-line vote of 51 to 50, with Vice President Kamala Harris breaking the tie in the evenly divided chamber.
The bill’s predecessor, the Build Back Better Act, had stalled in the Senate due to opposition from one of the party’s centrist members, Joe Manchin, after more than a year of deliberations among Democrats.
Chuck Schumer, the Senate majority leader, spent months secretly working with Manchin over a more limited spending bill, which resulted in the Inflation Reduction Act.
Despite the fact that the Build Back Better Act was much more comprehensive, Democrats have praised the environment and healthcare elements included in their compromise package.
Experts believe that the plan may lower US emissions by 40% by 2030 compared to 2005 levels, which is close to Biden’s aim of cutting emissions in half by the end of the decade.
“This bill is the most significant move forward on climate change ever,” Biden remarked on Tuesday. “It will enable us to take bolder measures toward fulfilling all of my climate goals, which we put out when we ran.”
In terms of healthcare measures, the plan will allow Medicare to begin negotiating the price of certain pricey pharmaceuticals and will cap out-of-pocket prescription drug costs for those enrolled in the government insurance program for seniors and some people with disabilities at $2,000 per year. It would also reduce premium increases for consumers who obtain insurance through the Affordable Care Act marketplace, sometimes known colloquially as Obamacare.
The bill’s cost is funded by a series of tax measures that are expected to generate hundreds of billions of dollars in income for the US government. These reforms include a new corporate minimum tax, a 1% excise tax on stock buybacks, and increased IRS enforcement aimed at high-income households.
After the House passage of the bill last Friday, Democratic party leaders took to the airwaves to tout the benefits of the legislation, promising that it would help ease the financial burden for Americans struggling under the weight of record-high inflation.
“It’s making sure that billionaires in corporate America are paying their fair share, making sure that the tax code is a little bit fairer,” the White House press secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre, told ABC News on Sunday. “When you put it in its totality, you will see that it will lower the deficit, which will help fight inflation.”
But Republicans have dismissed Democrats’ arguments that the bill will help ease inflation, accusing them of ramming through a reckless spending spree that will do little to aid working Americans.
According to a report issued by Moody’s Analytics, the Democrats’ spending package will “modestly reduce inflation over the 10-year budget horizon”. But regardless of the bill’s impact, there have been some signs that inflation may be cooling off.
Last month, the annual rate of inflation in the United States was 8.5%, a tiny decline from the 40-year high of 9.1% in June. If inflation begins to slow and Democrats can sell the passage of their spending package on the campaign trail, they may be able to avoid broad defeat in the November midterm elections.
“I’ve always expected to win the midterms. It is dependent on voter turnout. The bill’s passing last week was hailed by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi as “probably helpful.” “But I know it will benefit America’s working families, and that is our goal.”