President Biden used his State of the Union address on Thursday to remind Americans of his efforts to lead the nation’s economy out of a pandemic recession and to lay the groundwork for a second term focused on getting the economy through Raising taxes on corporations and making businesses fairer to support the wealthy while taking steps to reduce costs for the middle class.
Mr. Biden offered a series of policies aimed squarely at the middle class, including efforts to make housing more affordable for first-time homebuyers. The president used his speech to differentiate his economic proposals from those supported by Republicans, including former President Donald J. Trump. Those proposals largely focused on tax cuts, reducing the Biden administration’s investment in clean energy and defunding the Internal Revenue Service.
Many of Mr. Biden’s policy proposals would require resolutions from Congress and would depend on Democrats winning control of the House and Senate. But the president also unveiled plans to direct federal agencies to use their powers to reduce the cost of expensive goods like housing, at a time when the lingering effects of inflation continue to weigh on economic sentiment.
From taxes and real estate to inflation and consumer protection, Mr. Biden had his sights set on purse strings.
Raising taxes on the rich
Many of the tax cuts Mr. Trump signed into law in 2017 are set to expire next year, making tax policy one of the most critical issues on the ballot this year.
On Thursday evening, Mr. Biden built on many tax proposals he has pushed over the past three years, asking big companies and the richest Americans to pay more. He proposed raising a new minimum tax on corporations from 15 percent to 21 percent and proposed a new minimum tax rate on billionaires of 25 percent, which he said would raise $500 billion within a decade.
Mr. Biden criticized the cost of the 2017 tax cuts, asking: “Do you really think the wealthy and big corporations need another $2 trillion in tax breaks?”
Help for the housing market
High interest rates have made housing unaffordable for many Americans, and Mr. Biden called for a series of measures to reduce those costs. These included tax credits and mortgage support for first-time home buyers, as well as new incentives to encourage the construction and renovation of affordable housing.
Mr. Biden called on Congress to make certain first-time homebuyers eligible for a $10,000 loan and to make some “first-generation” home buyers eligible for a down payment of up to $25,000.
The president also unveiled new grants and incentives to encourage the construction of affordable housing. He also said the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau would pursue new rules to combat “anti-competitive” closing costs that lenders impose on buyers and sellers, and called for greater scrutiny of landlords who collude to raise rents and hidden fees into rental agreements.
Protecting consumers from “shrinkflation”
There’s only so much a president can do to curb rapid inflation, but Mr. Biden used his remarks to dig into his new favorite boogeyman: shrinkflation.
“Same size bag, put fewer chips in it,” Mr. Biden said. He called on lawmakers to pass legislation to end the company’s practice of reducing the size of products without lowering their price.
The president also touted his efforts to reduce late credit card payment fees and “junk” fees and eliminate surprise fees for online ticket sales, and he claimed to save Americans billions of dollars through various forms of price gouging.
Build and Buy American
One of the puzzles plaguing Mr. Biden’s advisers is why he doesn’t get enough credit for major legislation enacted over the past three years.
The president quickly discussed these achievements, reminding his audience of the construction of new roads and bridges and investments in microchip development and clean energy production.
Mr. Biden went off script and chastised Republicans for voting against some of those measures while benefiting from investments in their states.
Take action against China
As president, Mr. Biden has prioritized stabilizing America’s economic ties with China while seeking to reduce the United States’ dependence on Chinese products. Mr. Biden took aim at Mr. Trump, saying that while the former president portrayed himself as tough on China, the Biden administration’s policies were having a greater impact on reducing the bilateral trade deficit and boosting U.S. economic growth.
The president added that his administration has pushed back against China’s unfair trade practices and barred the export of sensitive American technology from the Chinese military. He said Republicans who claim the U.S. is falling behind China are wrong.
“America is rising,” Mr. Biden said. “We have the best economy in the world.”
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2024-03-08 10:04:24
www.nytimes.com
