A significant spending plan for health care and climate change was signed into law by US President Joe Biden on Tuesday, providing Democrats a boost ahead of the midterm elections, where Republicans are now less assured of their projected landslide triumph.
The law, known as the Inflation Reduction Act, was promoted by the White House as the largest effort in US history to combat climate change. It also aims to address long-requested changes in the cost of prescription drugs and add fairness to the tax system by imposing a minimum 15 percent tax on corporations.
“A nation can be transformed. That’s what’s happening now,” Biden said in a White House speech likely to form the basis of his campaign ahead of the November polls, where Republicans have hoped to end Democrats’ narrow control of Congress.
“It’s about tomorrow,” Biden said. “It’s about delivering progress and prosperity to American families. It’s about showing America and the American people that democracy still works in America”.
The fact that Biden was able to sign the law, no matter how scaled back it is from the massive package he first tried and failed to pass through Congress, is a political recovery that Democrats are now hoping would inspire a comeback at the polls later this year.
The government will spend approximately $370 billion on green energy efforts under the proposal, and it will also permit the state-run Medicare system to bargain for lower prescription drug prices. This is a well-liked move meant to lower the frequently ruinous costs Americans are compelled to pay.
The Sierra Club, an organization that advocates for environmental causes, commended what it called a courageous move in the fight against global warming despite the Republican National Committee calling a provision to subsidize the purchase of electric vehicles a “scam.”
“This day will be remembered by future generations as the turning of the tide against the fossil fuel industry and toward a healthier, cleaner, and more just future for all people across this country,” Sierra Club president Ramon Cruz said.
The law’s massive cost will be covered in large part by closing numerous tax loopholes and enforcing a new 15 percent minimum tax on corporations – a measure Biden has long promised to his base as a way to get the wealthy to “pay part of their fair share”.
