The Basics Of Biden's Proposed $1.75 Trillion Deal

US President Joe Biden hopes his sweeping "Build Back Better" package will win approval from Congress and define his presidency

Washington, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 28th Oct, 2021 ) :US President Joe Biden hopes his sweeping "Build Back Better" package will win approval from Congress and define his presidency.

The latest version of the plan emerged after fierce debate within his own Democratic Party, and is likely to continue to attract intense criticism from his opponents.

Here are some of the key points from the $1.75 trillion framework announced by the White House on Thursday: - Preschool, childcare - Provides universal, free preschool for three- and four-year olds, expanding access to more than six million children a year. Program is funded for six years.

Limiting childcare costs for most families to no more than seven percent of income. This could affect about 20 million children.

Extending for one year the current expanded Child Tax Credit for more than 35 million American households, with monthly payments for households earning up to $150,000 a year.

- Clean energy, climate change - "Resilience" investments to address extreme weather such as wildfires, droughts, and hurricanes, and to tackle "legacy pollution" in communities.

Clean Energy Tax Credits ($320 billion) for clean energy, transmission and storage, clean passenger and commercial vehicles, and clean energy manufacturing.

Targeted incentives to spur new domestic supply chains and technologies such as solar panels, batteries and wind turbine blades.

- Affordable care - Extending the expanded Affordable Care Act premium tax credits through 2025, which could allow more than three million people to gain health insurance.

Enabling Medicare to cover the cost of hearing aids.

- Housing and equality - Invest $150 billion in housing affordability, including in rural areas, by building more than a million affordable rental and single-family homes, providing rental and down payment assistance and public housing.

- What got cut? - And earlier version of the package was much larger but some goals were dropped from the proposal to win support of all Democrats, including: -- Paid family leave -- a major personal loss for Biden -- Prescription drug pricing reform -- Major Medicare expansion covering dental and vision -- A bigger clean energy plan -- A controversial plan to tax the wealth of about 700 American billionaires, including value of stock holdings, that was floated at the last minute - Paying for it all - The White House says it will ask "the wealthiest Americans and most profitable corporations to pay their fair share," without raising taxes on small business or anyone making less than $400,000 per year.

The revenue sources include: -- 15 percent corporate minimum tax on large corporations -- 1 percent surcharge on corporate stock buybacks -- Penalty rate for foreign corporations based in countries with a tax rate below 15 percent -- New surtax on multi-millionaires and billionaires of 5 percent on income over $10 million and another 3 percent on income over $25 million-- Closing the loophole that allows the wealthy to avoid paying the 3.8 percent Medicare tax-- Investment in tax enforcement to clamp down on tax evasion by the wealthy, estimated at $160 billion a year in lost revenue.