THE coronavirus pandemic that has disrupted the lives and economy of the world has so glaringly highlighted how America — supposedly the most powerful and richest nation in the world, the bastion and guardian of democracy — has failed to live up to its reputation and the promise and principles enshrined in our Constitution and the Declaration of Independence.
COVID-19 has revealed what we, ordinary hardworking Americans, already felt and knew all along. We, the People, have long been marginalized to favor those who have the power, the money, and the well-connected.
The most vulnerable people are the ones whose lives and livelihoods were badly hurt. Jobs were lost. Small businesses closed down. Hopes were shattered. On the other hand, those who were millionaires and billionaires amassed even more wealth as We, the People, could hardly pay for our basic needs amid the threat of the coronavirus pandemic.
But the plans of President Joe Biden presented to the joint session of Congress last Wednesday, April 27, have given hope to most Americans, as reported by 85% of respondents who approve of Biden’s plans and 75% say they would most likely help them, as revealed by the latest CBS News Poll conducted immediately after Biden’ speech.
Indeed, these plans intend to invest in us, the American people, and help rebuild our lives and our nation, and not just those of the privileged few so we can all live up to the promise of America — we are all equal. The plan addresses the need for social equity so that those who need help most will get them, and those who have already profited from this broken economic system will now have to pay their fair share so we can all do our share in rebuilding our beloved country.
As the White House Fact sheet stated:
The American Jobs Plan and the American Families Plan are once-in-a-generation investments in our nation’s future. The American Jobs Plan will create millions of good jobs, rebuild our country’s physical infrastructure and workforce, and spark innovation and manufacturing here at home. The American Families Plan is an investment in our children and our families—helping families cover the basic expenses that so many struggle with now, lowering health insurance premiums, and continuing the American Rescue Plan’s historic reductions in child poverty. Together, these plans reinvest in the future of the American economy and American workers, and will help us out-compete China and other countries around the world.
The key is to once again grow and expand the middle class instead of shrinking it, causing the great disparity between the richest trillionaires, billionaires and millionaires and us, ordinary working Americans in the middle class and the poorest of the poor.
President Biden’s American Families Plan will:
Make transformational investments from early childhood to postsecondary education so that all children and young people are able to grow, learn, and gain the skills they need to succeed. It will provide universal, quality preschool to all three- and four-year-olds. It will provide Americans two years of free community college.
Invest in making college more affordable for low- and middle-income students, including students at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs), and institutions such as Hispanic-serving institutions, Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-serving institutions, and other minority-serving institutions (MSIs).
Invest in our teachers as well as our students, improving teacher training and support so that our schools become engines of growth at every level.
Provide direct support to families to ensure that low- and middle-income families spend no more than seven percent of their income on child care, and that the child care they access is of high-quality.
Provide direct support to workers and families by creating a national comprehensive paid family and medical leave program that will bring the American system in line with competitor nations that offer paid leave programs.
The system will also allow people to manage their health and the health of their families.
And, it will provide critical nutrition assistance to families who need it most and expand access to healthy meals to our nation’s students – dramatically reducing childhood hunger.
The American Families Plan will extend key tax cuts in the American Rescue Plan that benefit lower- and middle-income workers and families, including the Child Tax Credit, the Earned Income Tax Credit, and the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit. In addition to making it easier for families to make ends meet, tax credits for working families have been shown to boost child academic and economic performance over time.
The American Families Plan will also extend the expanded health insurance tax credits in the American Rescue Plan. These credits are providing premium relief that is lowering health insurance costs by an average of $50 per person per month for nine million people, and will enable four million uninsured people to gain coverage.
The White House Fact Sheet reports: “Investing in our people through the American Families plan will yield significant economic returns to the country.
These investments in the American people and families will be boosting productivity and economic growth, producing a larger, more productive, and healthier workforce on a sustained basis, and generating savings to states and the federal government.
Evidence shows that a dollar invested in high-quality early childhood programs for low-income children will result in up to $7.30 in benefits, including increased wages, improved health, and reduced crime.
Parental paid leave has been shown to keep mothers in the workforce, increasing labor force participation and boosting economic growth.
And, sustained tax credits for families with children have been found to yield a lifetime of benefits, ranging from higher educational attainment to higher lifetime earnings.
According to the White House:
In all, the American Families Plan includes $1.8 trillion in investments and tax credits for American families and children over ten years. It consists of about $1 trillion in investments and $800 billion in tax cuts for American families and workers. Alongside the American Families Plan, the President will be proposing a set of measures to make sure that the wealthiest Americans pay their share in taxes, while ensuring that no one making $400,000 per year or less will see their taxes go up. When combined with President Biden’s American Jobs Plan, this legislation will be fully paid for over 15 years, and will reduce deficits over the long term.
(To be continued…)
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The opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by the author do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints of the Asian Journal, its management, editorial board and staff.
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Gel Santos Relos has been in news, talk, public service and educational broadcasting since 1989 with ABS-CBN and is now serving the Filipino audience using different platforms, including digital broadcasting, and print, and is working on a new public service program for the community. You may contact her through email at [email protected], or send her a message via Facebook at Facebook.com/Gel.Santos.Relos.
