US President Joe Biden will leave behind several economic policy ambitions that have met with resistance from Congress or the judiciary during his four-year term, Reuters notes in a commentary.
His vice president, Kamala Harris, may have a chance to revive some of the proposals if she is chosen to replace the Democratic president in the Nov. 5 election. Here are some of the major, still unfinished economic proposals from Biden's tenure:
Taxes for the rich
One of the main unfulfilled ambitions of Biden and Harris' economic policy was to raise taxes on the rich and big corporations, but not on people who earn less than $400,000 a year. Both Democrats have called for tax cuts on tips for service workers.
The goal was to create greater parity between ultra-rich Americans, who pay single-digit income tax rates, and the working class, who pay higher rates, in part because of lower rates on some forms of investment income.< /p>
Democrats also want to expand the U.S. tax base, which for decades has been insufficient to finance the federal government's current spending and the nation's growing long-term social spending obligations, such as Social Security and Medicare.
/p>
Republicans and some economists say the proposed measures could limit business activity, economic growth and push the people and companies responsible for job creation to other countries.
The debate will come to a head in 2025, when provisions of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act expire. It was the 2017 measure that former Republican President Donald Trump signed into law, cutting corporate and individual tax rates and increasing the family tax credit, among other measures.
Tackling social problems
Biden and Harris also want to expand the government's role in alleviating social problems, from child poverty to old-age misery, inadequate health care and educational inequality.
In 2021, they briefly increased the child tax credit that provided parents with up to $3,600 for each child, but that measure met with opposition from Republicans and expired after that year, although it led to a significant drop in child poverty.
Democrats want to roll back the measure, and the Trump campaign has signaled a willingness to expand the tax credit.
Biden and Harris also want to add funding that could provide paid family leave and create jobs in elder care and education. Efforts by Biden and Harris to get student loan forgiveness met with significant pushback from the courts.
Republicans often question the fairness and effectiveness of public sector economic interventions and call for the government to focus more closely on tax cuts, deficit reduction and national security.
Inflation
Democrats have been dogged by voter anger and Republican attacks on inflation in the aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic measures, which they initially dismissed as "transitional".
While representatives of the US administration believe that the main responsibility for controlling inflation rests with the US Federal Reserve, Biden and Harris define cost reduction as their main economic priority.
They turned their attention to corporate "greed" and supply chain problems, calling for stronger competition law enforcement as well as replacing rusted road bridges and lead water pipes that can drive up costs and stifle potential for economic growth.
And they are willing to allow US fossil fuel production to reach record levels despite their climate protection goals, while also being willing to tap into the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to lower gas station prices. Trump said the reserve should only be used in the event of an emergency.
Housing absorbs a third of Americans' spending, and Harris has signaled he wants to do more to address the high costs that have put home ownership in the U.S. out of reach for many.
Industrial policy
Biden and Harris are proudly pushing for a new domestic industrial policy that would use government guidance and funding to protect and stimulate growth in certain industries.
Industries favored by Democrats include clean energy, electric vehicles, space exploration, quantum computing, cybersecurity and semiconductors.
Biden and Harris argue that expanding manufacturing in these areas can create jobs, raise wages, strengthen unions, stimulate economic activity, increase economic competitiveness with other countries, and protect U.S. advantages in the field of national security, notes Reuters.
Four days before the Democratic National Convention opens in Chicago, Democrats have not updated their party platform to replace Biden with Harris, and it shows the wrong presidential candidate, the Associated Press notes.
The Democratic Party platform, which is essentially a document outlining the goals and policy positions supported by the party, has not been updated since the release of the draft platform on July 13, eight days before President Joe Biden dropped his bid for re-election and to support Vice President Kamala Harris.
The committee responsible for drafting the platform worked for more than a year to draft it, including giving key figures an opportunity to comment and make changes earlier this summer. But the already drafted text, which must be approved by convention delegates, has not been changed since before Biden left the race. And the body is not scheduled to meet to update the platform before the convention begins next Monday.
Harris has not released a detailed list of her political positions since taking the top position for the Democratic nomination in the presidential race, although her campaign aides have suggested she no longer adheres to some of the more liberal positions , which he took on during his first run for president in 2020, including endorsing a ban on shale gas extraction through so-called hydraulic fracking.
The political platform, which usually lays out the party's positions with heavy input from the presidential candidate's allies, is also currently giving no indication of her direct views on key issues.
The platform is not mandatory. Still, some Democrats criticized Republicans for not being more transparent in endorsing their party's 16-page platform during last month's Republican National Convention in Milwaukee — including modifying the document to adhere to -close to former President Donald Trump's positions on abortion and other key issues.
"The Democratic Party platform will embody the values of our party and build on the historic achievements that Democrats have achieved under the leadership of the Biden-Harris team," the Democratic National Committee said in a statement yesterday.
"The Platform Drafting Committee has been working diligently with stakeholders from all corners of our party to craft a bold, progressive program for the next four years, and the platform delegates will vote on at the convention will be a reflection of that process." ;, the statement also said.
However, the July draft platform states in its preamble: "President Biden, Vice President Harris and Democrats are running to get the job done," which, of course, is not entirely true given that Biden dropped out of the race.
The Democrats' proposed draft platform is 80 pages long and focuses on a meticulous exposition of how the Biden-Harris candidacy differs from Trump's — language that could still be applied even if the party's candidacy now she is different.
In it, the former US president and current Republican presidential candidate is derided as "focused not on opportunity and optimism, but on revenge and retribution; not on the American people, but on himself". In it, Trump and his party are accused of intending to take away basic personal freedoms from Americans, dictating what health care decisions women can make, banning books and telling people who they can love.
Most of the main conclusions in the draft Democratic platform support the work of President Biden's administration. In the weeks since he launched his presidential campaign, Harris has spoken out generally in support of the main goals of the Biden administration. This means that the surviving draft platform matches many of her views. Although the names of the candidates have not been changed, it suggests that the new candidacy did not have as much input as usual in preparing the list of what he should fight for if he wins the White House, commented the Associated Press.
The Democratic Party platform calls for restoring abortion rights across the country, for continuing green energy initiatives that can create jobs and help slow climate change, for limiting family child care costs low-income and to also insist that the US Congress approve a path to US citizenship for "long-term" illegal immigrants residing in the country.
It also said Israel's right to defend itself was "absolute," while supporting efforts by President Biden's administration to reach a lasting cease-fire agreement that would end the fighting between Israel and "Hamas" in the Gaza Strip, notes the Associated Press.
For most of his presidency, Joe Biden has tried to convince Americans that their financial situation is better than they realize. Now Vice President Kamala Harris will try to shake those negative perceptions while voters continue to worry about the trajectory of the economy, NBC News commented on its website.
The economy and concerns about the rising cost of living rank among the top issues for American voters, who consistently give Biden low marks. While he tried to emphasize the positives, such as relatively low unemployment and strong economic growth, Biden failed to improve the mood of Americans amid decades-high inflation.
There have been some early signs that Harris has an edge with voters on the economy over Biden in the weeks since he began running for president, NBC News noted. In a survey of "NP" (National Public Radio) and the Marist Institute for Social Research released this month, 51 percent of Americans say Trump would do a better job on the economy, while 48 percent say the same about Harris. This is a slight decrease in support for Trump since June and an increase for Harris over Biden.
In a separate poll by the "Financial Times" and the University of Michigan, also released this month, 42 percent of respondents said they trusted Harris to handle the economy, compared with 35 percent who said the same about Biden in July, when he was the Democratic nominee. About 41 percent said they trusted Trump in both the July and August polls.
But other indicators this week suggested that US consumers are continuing to spend, with July retail sales rising more than expected and Walmart" reported steady sales growth. Despite concerns about the labor market, the number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits fell for the second week in a row.
At the same time, consumers get some relief in terms of rising prices. Inflation has shown consistent signs of slowing, with consumer prices rising at the slowest pace since the start of the coronavirus pandemic in July. In July of this year, the prices of used cars decreased by 11% compared to the previous year, and gasoline decreased by 2.2%.
However, prices overall have risen 20% since Biden took office, according to the Consumer Price Index. Although wages are rising, adjusted for inflation, consumers have slightly less purchasing power than they did at the start of 2021, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, cited by "NBC News".
Harris will lay out more details about her economic policy agenda in a speech later today in North Carolina, where she is expected to focus on lowering prices, including offering a plan to prevent artificial price inflation from side of the big food producers and grocers, her election campaign said. Harris will also propose limiting the ability to acquire food companies if those deals could lead to higher food prices.
Grocery prices have seen some of the biggest increases in three years, NBC News said, adding that Harris' proposal would aim to create a federal ban on artificially raising prices by corporations in the food and processing industry. According to previously released excerpts of her speech, she will blame meat processors for raising prices while making record profits since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.
Harris has previously called for raising the minimum wage and expanding the child care tax credit, two proposals that could benefit lower-income American households. She also called for service worker tips to be exempt from federal taxes, something Trump has also voiced his support for.
"Voters are forward-looking, interested in the future, and she's smartly laying out a new policy that has some populist appeal,'' said Tim Hogan, a Democratic strategist who served as a former spokesman for Hillary Clinton's 2016 campaign. adding: "There's an originality to who she is and what she represents in the race.
American consumers could get more financial relief in September, when the US Federal Reserve is expected to cut interest rates at its last meeting before the November election, according to NBC News. This could lead to lower interest rates on home mortgages, which will ease future home buyers, as well as lower interest rates on paying off credit card bills and car loans. Lower interest rates would also help lower borrowing costs for employers looking to expand their businesses.