In his State of the Union address, President Joe Biden praised the “booming” US economy and called for higher corporate taxes and a tax on billionaires.
Agence France-Presse quoted Biden (81 years old), a candidate for a second presidential term, in his speech yesterday, Thursday, praising his economic performance, considering that the whole world “envy” the United States economy.
Biden added: “I inherited an economy that was on the verge of collapse,” referring to the Covid-19 pandemic, which greatly affected the largest economy in the world, noting that “15 million jobs were created in 3 years, and this is a record number.”
The US President also pointed out that “the unemployment rate is the lowest in 50 years.”
But the agency indicates that Biden is facing voters who may not be convinced by these numbers due to the continued rise in prices, which prompted him to focus on improving access to housing.
While Medicare, the health care system for those over the age of 65 in the United States, is negotiating prices for some treatments, the president called for lowering the prices of 500 drugs over the next decade to save taxpayer money.
The Democratic president also called for increasing the corporate tax rate, and said that he wanted to impose taxes on billionaires that could reach 25%.
Biden said: “It is time to increase the minimum corporate tax to at least 21%, so that all major companies can finally start paying their share.”
The battle with China
In the context of the competition with China, Joe Biden wanted to recall the measures he has taken to limit exports of advanced technologies.
“Frankly, despite his strong rhetoric about China, my predecessor never had the idea of doing something like this,” he said, referring to Donald Trump, his likely opponent in the upcoming presidential elections.
Agence France-Presse quoted Biden as saying that Washington is in a “stronger position” than any other country to win against China, stressing at the same time that the United States does not seek a conflict with the second largest economy in the world.
In the face of his decline in opinion polls due to 3 years of high inflation, the president is constantly focusing on his measures to restore purchasing power to Americans, especially middle and less wealthy families.
In this regard, he said that he wants to create an annual tax credit to help Americans with housing costs, stressing his efforts to reduce “unfair prices” and “hidden fees.”
Biden attacked the food industry sector, which reduces the quantities sold without changing the price of the product in order to combat inflation.
But Biden’s economic proposals will likely not be implemented because – if he is re-elected as president next November – he needs a democratic majority in the Senate and the House of Representatives, which is unlikely, according to the Agence France-Presse report.
The Biden administration failed to pass a project to impose taxes on global companies, despite its adoption in October 2021 by the countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
Lael Brainard, the US President’s chief economic advisor, said in a telephone conference before Biden’s speech that the president “will present a budget next week that provides for reducing the deficit by 3 billion dollars over 10 years.”
This constitutes another blow to Donald Trump, whose 2017 tax reform caused debt to rise, according to the report.
