Mitch McConnell Threatens to Vote Against Bipartisan Bill to Combat China if Biden Lowers Prescription Drug Prices


     It's not an easy way to say it, but it's generally good news that should be getting more attention: the Build Back Better Act is officially back. Because of Joe Manchin, it's going to look a lot different than it did in 2021. However, it's still going to be a historic bill for the working class and a legacy on par with Obamacare. Manchin is the chair of the Senate Energy Committee and a senator for whom healthcare is a priority, so these two portions, as well as the taxes to cover it, will make up the bill.

     When President Biden launched his plan for the 2023 Omnibus Appropriations Act in March, he included doubling the Pell Grant, creating universal Pre-K, increasing funding for HBCUs and other MSIs, investing in civil rights and community policing, and implementing the rest of his Unity Agenda. This is not all going to pass; however, if we can invest in childcare and secure the largest increase in the Pell Grant in U.S. history while cancelling student debt for tens of millions of Americans and cracking down on predatory student loan practices, I think we can consider President Biden's agenda for childcare and higher education a success.

     As for the Build Back Better Act, I am aiming for a bill that will reduce the deficit by creating $2.4 trillion in tax income, which would be enough to more than undo the corporate tax giveaways instituted by Trump in 2017, his only major legislative achievement, without raising taxes on anyone making under $400,000 per year. The bill would make the largest investment in combating climate change and ensuring energy security in U.S. history and cut prescription drug costs by allowing Medicare to negotiate drug costs, capping drug prices for seniors, capping increasing the cost of prescriptions above inflation, and numerous other pieces that would put President Biden on track to achieve his goal of cutting prescription prices by 60 percent, which is probably the most overwhelmingly popular policy in the nation right now and one that would dispel the myth for at least one political party that all politicians are bought. It would also help in the midterms; expanding our majority in the Senate and keeping it in the House would allow Democrats to take more decisive action on other matters like paid leave.

     Last month, Congress unveiled the INSULIN Act, a bill that would not only cap the cost of insulin at $35 a month, but reform the entire process and industry, a landmark, bipartisan bill that would lower the cost of one of the most insanely expensive lifesaving drugs for millions of Americans. I hope the Build Back Better Act also continues the the subsidies for the Affordable Care Act, which has allowed 15 million people to enroll and which, combined with executive action he can take and has taken, would fulfill one of his five biggest campaign promises by restoring and building on Obamacare; I also hope this includes expanding Medicaid to those in states that haven't done so as well as expanding it to include hearing coverage.

     Out of spite for his failure to overturn Obamacare in 2018, Mitch McConnell and Senate Republicans are now walking away from negotiations on a bipartisan bill to compete with China, fix supply chains, bolster domestic manufacturing, and much more. It was estimated just last month that the bill would have an impact of three million jobs, compared to two million for the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. The two parties were in the process of holding a conference committee between the Senate version, USICA; and the House version, the America COMPETES Act; in order to find a price range somewhere between $110 billion and $350 billion.

     I'm not as well-versed on congressional procedure as Senator Schumer and Speaker Pelosi. However, the Senate passed the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act, a $110 billion bill to compete with China, fix supply chains, bolster domestic manufacturing, and much more; all the same things the America COMPETES Act does; in June 2021. If Senator McConnell doesn't want to negotiate on a larger bill, Speaker Pelosi may be able to pass the bill that has already passed the Senate on a party-line vote, which would hurt Republicans further with their unwillingness to back up claims of caring about manufacturing and being "tough on China." I'm also calling on President Biden to call off his judicial nominee deal reached with Minority Leader McConnell over this matter. McConnell can't make deals, so neither should President Biden.

     The GOP has been doing this since President Biden took office. They obstructed more funding for COVID prevention and treatment over the Biden administration's recension of the Title 42 policy. Now, they're holding America's economy hostage to prevent President Biden from lowering prescription drug costs. If that isn't a clear indicator that the GOP cannot be trusted running our country and doesn't deserve to take control of Congress in 2022, I don't know what is. This is a make-or-break summer for Democrats. We're on track to pass the largest bill for veterans, pass the Build Back Better Act, begin work to potentially codify Roe v. Wade, and possibly pass the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act and cancel student debt. If we can get these five things done, we'll be in a good place as will our country. If not, well, we'll see in November.

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