Senate passes sweeping climate and health plan, win for Biden

After 18 months of negotiations and marathon overnight debates, the US Senate passed Joe Biden’s grand plan on climate and health on Sunday, handing the president a significant landmark victory less than 100 days before a crucial election.

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With their votes alone, Democrats approved the $430 billion investment plan, which will go to the House of Representatives for a final vote next week before being signed into law by Joe Biden.

“The road is long, hard and winding,” he underlined.

Electric cars

As a result of a compromise with the Democratic Party’s right wing, the envelope includes the largest climate investment the United States has ever made — $370 billion to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 40% by 2030.

With this reform, an American would receive up to $7,500 in tax credits for purchasing an electric car. Installation of solar panels on its roof will be 30%.

This reform should make it possible to strengthen forest resilience in the face of the wildfires that are ravaging the American West and whose proliferation is directly attributable to global warming.

Billions of dollars in tax breaks will be given to the most polluting industries to help them with their energy transition, a move strongly criticized by the party’s left. An ambitious deal after months of negotiations.

Joe Biden, who came to power with sweeping reform plans, saw them buried, resurrected, and then buried again by Joe Manchin, the most moderate senator from his camp. Given the slim Democratic majority in the Senate, West Virginia’s elected representative, a state known for its coal mines, has veto power over his plans.

At the end of July, the Democratic leader of the Senate, Mr. He succeeded in conciliating Manchin.

“Vot-e-Rama”

On Saturday, senators finally began debating the text in hemicycle.

In the evening, they entered into a marathon practice known as “vote-a-rama,” during which elected officials, many of them elderly, proposed dozens of amendments for fifteen consecutive hours and demanded a vote on each.

A chance to air their grievances to the Republican opposition, who see the Biden plan as too expensive, and the Democratic left, who want it too ambitious.

Bernie Sanders, an influential senator on the left, introduced several amendments overnight to strengthen the social aspect of the speech, which has been significantly watered down in recent months.

The text offers $64 billion to invest in health and gradually reduce the cost of some drugs, which would be ten times more than in other rich countries.

But progressives had to abandon their ambitions of free public kindergartens and universities and better care for the elderly.

“Millions of pensioners will continue to have rotten teeth and never get the dentures, hearing aids or glasses they deserve,” said Mr. Sanders criticized. “This bill does nothing to solve this problem,” the former presidential candidate vowed.

But the Democratic camp, eager to implement the plan ahead of crucial November legislative elections and hand a victory to a president with anemic popularity ratings, united and rejected most of the amendments.

Alongside these massive investments, the bill wants to reduce the public deficit with a new minimum tax of 15% for all companies making over a billion dollars in profits. It aims to prevent some large companies from exploiting tax loopholes that have allowed them to pay much less than the theoretical rate.

It is estimated that the move could generate more than $258 billion in US federal revenue over the next 10 years.