FILE -
The U.S.
Capitol
in
Washington
is
pictured
on
Friday,
August
5, 2022.
Democrats
pushed
their
election-year
economic
package
to
Senate
passage
Sunday,
Aug. 7,
2022, a
compromise
less
ambitious
than
Biden’s
original
domestic
vision
but one
that
still
meets
party
goals of
slowing
global
warming,
moderating
pharmaceutical
costs
and
taxing
immense
corporations.
(AP
Photo/Mariam
Zuhaib,
File) |
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FILE -
Insulin
is
displayed
at
Pucci's
Pharmacy
in
Sacramento,
Calif.,
July 8,
2022.
The
biggest
investment
ever in
the U.S.
to fight
climate
change.
A
hard-fought
cap on
out-of-pocket
prescription
drug
costs
for
seniors
in the
Medicare
program.
A new
corporate
minimum
tax to
ensure
big
businesses
pay
their
share.
And
billions
leftover
to pay
down
federal
deficits.(AP
Photo/Rich
Pedroncelli,
File) |
|
In
Biden's
big
bill:
Climate,
health
care,
deficit
reduction
By
LISA
MASCARO
7-9
minutes
WASHINGTON
- The
biggest
investment
ever in
the U.S.
to fight
climate
change.
A
hard-fought
cap on
out-of-pocket
prescription
drug
costs
for
Medicare
recipients.
A new
corporate
minimum
tax to
ensure
big
businesses
pay
their
share.
And
billions
left
over to
pay down
federal
deficits.
All
told,
the
Democrats’
“Inflation
Reduction
Act” may
not do
much to
immediately
tame
inflationary
price
hikes.
But the
package
heading
toward
final
passage
in
Congress
and to
the
White
House
for
President
Joe
Biden’s
signature
will
touch
countless
American
lives
with
longtime
party
proposals.
Not
as
robust
as
Biden’s
initial
ideas to
rebuild
America’s
public
infrastructure
and
family
support
systems,
the
compromise
of
health
care,
climate
change
and
deficit-reduction
strategies
is also
a
stunning
election
year
turnaround,
a
smaller
but not
unsubstantial
product
brought
back to
political
life
after
having
collapsed
last
year.
Democrats
alone
support
the
package,
with all
Republicans
expected
to vote
against
it.
Republicans
deride
the
730-page
bill as
big
government
overreach
and
point
particular
criticism
at its
$80
billion
investment
in the
IRS to
hire new
employees
and go
after
tax
scofflaws.
Voters
will be
left to
sort it
out in
the
November
elections,
when
control
of
Congress
will be
decided.
Here’s
what’s
in the
estimated
$740
billion
package
— made
up of
$440
billion
in new
spending
and $300
billion
toward
easing
deficits—
that is
up for
final
approval
Friday
in the
House.
LOWER
PRESCRIPTION
DRUG
COSTS
Launching
a
long-sought
goal,
the bill
would
allow
the
Medicare
program
to
negotiate
some
prescription
drug
prices
with
pharmaceutical
companies,
saving
the
federal
government
some
$288
billion
over the
10-year
budget
window.
The
result
is
expected
to lower
costs
for
older
adults
on
medications,
including
a $2,000
out-of-pocket
cap for
older
adults
buying
prescriptions
from
pharmacies.
The
revenue
raised
would
also be
used to
provide
free
vaccinations
for
seniors,
who now
are
among
the few
not
guaranteed
free
access,
according
to a
summary
document.
Seniors
would
also
have
insulin
prices
capped
at $35 a
month.
HELP
PAYING
FOR
HEALTH
INSURANCE
The
bill
would
extend
the
subsidies
provided
during
the
COVID-19
pandemic
to help
some
Americans
who buy
health
insurance
on their
own.
Under
earlier
pandemic
relief,
the
extra
help was
set to
expire
this
year.
But the
bill
would
allow
the
assistance
to keep
going
for
three
more
years,
lowering
insurance
premiums
for some
13
million
people
who are
purchasing
their
own
health
care
policies
through
the
Affordable
Care
Act.
BIGGEST
U.S.
INVESTMENT
‘BY FAR’
IN
CLIMATE
CHANGE
The
bill
would
infuse
nearly
$375
billion
over the
decade
in
climate
change-fighting
strategies
that
Democrats
believe
could
put the
country
on a
path to
cut
greenhouse
gas
emissions
40% by
2030,
and
“would
represent
the
single
biggest
climate
investment
in U.S.
history,
by far.”
For
consumers,
that
means
tax
rebates
to buy
electric
vehicles
— $4,000
for used
vehicle
purchase
and up
to
$7,500
for new
ones,
eligible
to
households
with
incomes
of
$300,000
or less
for
couples,
or
single
people
with
income
of
$150,000
or less.
Not
all
electric
vehicles
will
fully
qualify
for the
tax
credits,
thanks
to
requirements
that
component
parts be
manufactured
and
assembled
in the
U.S. And
pricier
cars
costing
more
than
$55,000
and SUVs
and
trucks
priced
above
$80,000
are
excluded.
There’s
also tax
breaks
for
consumers
to go
green.
One is a
10-year
consumer
tax
credit
for
renewable
energy
investments
in wind
and
solar.
For
businesses,
the bill
has $60
billion
for a
clean
energy
manufacturing
tax
credit
and $30
billion
for a
production
tax
credit
for wind
and
solar,
seen as
ways to
boost
and
support
the
industries
that can
help
curb the
country’s
dependence
on
fossil
fuels.
The
bill
also
gives
tax
credits
for
nuclear
power
and
carbon
capture
technology
that oil
companies
such as
Exxon
Mobil
have
invested
millions
of
dollars
to
advance.
The
bill
would
impose a
new fee
on
excess
methane
emissions
from oil
and gas
drilling
while
giving
fossil
fuel
companies
access
to more
leases
on
federal
lands
and
waters.
A
late
addition
pushed
by Sen.
Kyrsten
Sinema,
D-Ariz.,
and
other
Democrats
in
Arizona,
Nevada
and
Colorado
would
designate
$4
billion
to
combat a
mega-drought
in the
West,
including
conservation
efforts
in the
Colorado
River
Basin,
which
nearly
40
million
Americans
rely on
for
drinking
water.
HOW
TO PAY
FOR ALL
OF THIS?
One
of the
biggest
revenue-raisers
in the
bill is
a new
15%
minimum
tax on
corporations
that
earn
more
than $1
billion
in
annual
profits.
It’s
a way to
clamp
down on
some 200
U.S.
companies
that
avoid
paying
the
standard
21%
corporate
tax
rate,
including
some
that end
up
paying
no taxes
at all.
The
new
corporate
minimum
tax
would
kick in
after
the 2022
tax year
and
raise
more
than
$258
billion
over the
decade.
There
will
also be
a new 1%
excise
tax
imposed
on stock
buybacks,
raising
some $74
billion
over the
decade.
Savings
from
allowing
Medicare’s
negotiations
with the
drug
companies
is
expected
to bring
in $288
billion
over 10
years,
according
to the
non-partisan
Congressional
Budget
Office.
The
bill
sticks
with
Biden’s
original
pledge
not to
raise
taxes on
families
or
businesses
making
less
than
$400,000
a year.
Yet
money is
also
raised
by
boosting
the IRS
to go
after
tax
cheats.
The bill
proposes
an $80
billion
investment
in
taxpayer
services,
enforcement
and
modernization,
which is
projected
to raise
$203
billion
in new
revenue
— a net
gain of
$124
billion
over the
decade.
EXTRA
MONEY TO
PAY DOWN
DEFICITS
With
some
$740
billion
in new
revenue
and
around
$440
billion
in new
investments,
the bill
promises
to put
the
difference
of about
$300
billion
toward
deficit
reduction.
Federal
deficits
spiked
during
the
COVID-19
pandemic
when
federal
spending
soared
and tax
revenues
fell as
the
nation’s
economy
churned
through
shutdowns,
closed
offices
and
other
massive
changes.
The
nation
has seen
deficits
rise and
fall in
recent
years.
But
overall
federal
budgeting
is on an
unsustainable
path,
according
to the
Congressional
Budget
Office,
which
recently
put out
a new
report
on
long-term
projections.
WHAT’S
LEFT
BEHIND?
The
package,
nowhere
near the
sweeping
Build
Back
Better
program
Biden
once
envisioned,
remains
a
sizable
undertaking
and,
along
with
COVID-19
relief
and the
GOP 2017
tax
cuts, is
among
the more
substantial
bills
from
Congress
in
years.
While
Congress
did pass
and
Biden
signed
into law
a $1
trillion
bipartisan
infrastructure
bill for
highways,
broadband
and
other
investments
that was
part of
the
White
House’s
initial
vision,
the
Democrats’
other
big
priorities
have
slipped
away.
Gone,
for now,
are are
plans
for free
pre-kindergarten
and
community
college,
as well
as the
nation’s
first
paid
family
leave
program
that
would
have
provided
up to
$4,000 a
month
for
births,
deaths
and
other
pivotal
needs.
Also
allowed
to
expire
is the
enhanced
child
care
credit
that was
providing
$300 a
month
during
the
pandemic.
___
Associated
Press
writer
Matthew
Daly
contributed
to this
report.
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