Frenzied race in Congress to find an agreement on Biden’s reforms ahead of COP26 – archyworldys

The White House and U.S. Democratic officials were engaged in frantic negotiations on Wednesday to resolve lingering disputes over Joe Biden’s massive social spending plan before the president flew to Europe.

While the day had started with the hope of an agreement, the prospect of a consensus still seemed distant in the early evening due to disagreements on how to finance the 1,500 to 2,000 billion in social spending.

A key centrist senator has indeed signaled his reluctance to plan a new tax on billionaires.

For her part, Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic head of the House of Representatives, called for new discussions on Thursday to advance Joe Biden’s agenda.

The US president reportedly agreed to further concessions on Wednesday, such as dropping sick leave, in an attempt to wrest a deal before he left for Rome for the G20 summit on Thursday, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Joe Biden hopes to present to his international partners, in Italy and in Glasgow for the COP26 on the climate, the image of the United States committed to the energy transition and growth but also the fight against social inequalities and tax evasion. .

“Kindergarten for all. Historic climate investments. Lower health care costs. They’re all within reach. Let’s get these bills to cross the finish line,” tweeted Joe Biden.

“We are very close” to an agreement, said White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki earlier.

Democrats are working on two programs spanning 8 to 10 years: one concerns investments of $ 1.2 trillion to modernize infrastructure; the other concerns social and environmental measures amounting to 1,500 to 2,000 billion.

Although planed, it would be the “biggest investment in the history of the fight against the climate crisis by the United States”, pleaded Jen Psaki.

– Super-rich –

But the financing of these plans has been the subject of heated debates for months within the Democratic Party.

On Wednesday, the outlines of a tax on the super-rich were presented.

“The billionaire income tax would apply to around 700 taxpayers and would raise hundreds of billions of dollars,” according to this new proposal made by Democratic Senator Ron Wyden, head of the US Senate Finance Committee.

This would ensure that “the richest people in the country pay their fair share to (finance) historic investments in childcare, paid leave and the fight against the climate crisis,” it said.

The great novelty is to tax unrealized capital gains, these dormant gains in the thick portfolios of stocks of great American fortunes.

The text specifies that “only taxpayers with more than $ 100 million in annual income or more than $ 1 billion in assets over three consecutive years would be covered by the proposal”.

According to American media, the tax rate used would be 23.8%.

Today, a wealthy shareholder like Elon Musk, boss of Tesla, or Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, does not pay taxes on these unrealized capital gains on the pretext that these gains do not exist as long as they are not actually cashed.

– Centrists –

But centrist Senator Joe Manchin has dampened hopes that this tax will pass.

“I don’t like the notion that we are targeting different people (…) who contribute to society and create a lot of jobs,” he responded.

However, his vote, like that of his colleague Kyrsten Sinema, is crucial because the Democratic majority in the Senate is so thin that the party must obtain all the votes without exception.

He told reporters, however, that Democrats “absolutely” must be able to secure the framework of a deal by the end of the day, reports political news site The Hill.

Kyrsten Sinema, opposed to tax increases, has not yet said whether she intends to support this method of financing. On the other hand, on Tuesday, she decided in favor of the minimum tax of 15% on multinationals.

She explained that she saw it as “a common sense step to ensure that very profitable companies (…) pay a reasonable minimum tax on their profits”.

This minimum tax, which should affect some 200 companies including the tech sector, has indeed returned to the forefront after the presentation of a text Tuesday by several senators.

bur-jul-Dt / iba