Democrats Tentatively Prepare to Reintroduce the Build Back Better Agenda

     From the moment he got into office, President Biden laid out a vision for rebuilding America's economy and building it back better. An economic aid package to restore full employment and the largest investment in our nation's infrastructure have already been achieved while Congress works to pass the Bipartisan Innovation Act, which we be a massive accomplishment on par with the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, and, now that the confirmation of Ketanji Brown Jackson is over and the finishing touches are being put on BIA, the Build Back Better Agenda, the final part of President Biden's economic push.

     The Build Back Better Act that fizzled out in December 2021 had three main components: expanding the social safety net, fighting climate change, and raising taxes on the wealthy and corporations to pay for it. With the Russo-Ukrainian War, a war that Russia is losing badly thanks to the bravery of the Ukrainian people and Volodymyr Zelenskyy as well as assistance from the U.S. and her allies, further disrupting global supply chains and impacting inflation, especially at the pump and the grocery store, it has become evident that the first part of the Build Back Better Agenda to be addressed will be the climate change and taxation parts of it.

     It does make sense. As early as this winter, it was noted that the best solution to pass this agenda would be to break it up into two reconciliation bills. Senator Manchin, the last Democratic holdout, is the chairman of the Energy Committee in the Senate, so this sort of bill would be right up his ally. Building on the investments in clean energy included in all prior portions of President Biden's spending plan with the largest investment in fighting climate change in U.S. history would not only address the existential threat of climate change and create jobs, but fight inflation and secure energy independence, too. In the long-term, Europe has chosen to rely on clean energy to distance itself from the need for oil earned with blood and controlled by tyrants, and the United States should do (and, to a certain extent, already is doing) the same.

     Another advantage to this approach is that it can be taken expeditiously. The Strategic Petroleum Reserve release will end this autumn, which should solidify the need in Congress for such a bill to pass; at the same time, the only major disagreements that arose with Senator Manchin were over the social safety net portions of the bill, not the energy portions. While Congress finishes the work on this bill as well as the Bipartisan Innovation Act and the Honoring Our PACT Act and President Biden cancels student debt, negotiations on the final portions of President Biden's economic spending plan can resume with hopes of completing them by the end of the year. 

     The bill, aside from ensuring energy independence, would also tackle inflation by reducing America's national debt by potentially hundreds of billions of dollars. The Build Back Better Framework, released in October 2021, included tax increases on those making over $400,000 per year that would mean the plan actually decreases the deficit, unlike the $2 trillion GOP tax scam passed in 2017. The original $3.5 trillion plan had called for $2.9 trillion in tax increases, so I'm hoping that this bill goes big and at least does slightly more than cancel out the GOP tax cuts.

     Of course, this will all depend on negotiations in the coming weeks by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia. Democrats have expressed optimism that these talks will produce results, and I believe it can and will be done. When it is, work should begin on the second reconciliation bill before the midterms. I'm proud of the American Rescue Plan Act, Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, and 2022 Omnibus Appropriations Act; and I'll be even prouder of the Bipartisan Innovation Act, the 2023 Omnibus Appropriations Act, the cancellation of student debt, the Honoring Our PACT Act, and the Build Back Better Bills. I've been working to get the word out about these bills and laws for a long time, and, today, we have some another piece to this puzzle: the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework. More to come on this soon.