TODAY Biden Unveils New Plan: Mfg, Innovation, Jobs, Climate, Healthcare, Carers, Race Equity: NE PA

Last edited Thu Jul 9, 2020, 09:38 AM - Edit history (1)

"Build Back Better": "Democrat Biden to unveil plan to boost manufacturing, innovation." By Joseph Ax, Jarrett Renshaw 2 hrs ago.

(Reuters) - Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden on Thursday will propose boosting manufacturing and innovation by spending $700 billion in his first four-year term to procure more American-made goods for the U.S. government and invest in research and development.

Biden will outline the plan, which the campaign said would create 5 million new jobs, in a speech in northeastern Pennsylvania, near his childhood hometown of Scranton. At the same time, Republican Vice President Mike Pence will attend a business roundtable focused on reopening the economy in Malvern, a suburb of Philadelphia, before speaking to the Philadelphia police union later in the day.

The opposing visits underscore Pennsylvania's status as a key battleground state in November's presidential election. President Donald Trump carried the state in 2016 by a slim margin, the first Republican to do so since 1988. Biden's announcement is the first prong of a broader economic plan titled "Build Back Better" to revive the U.S. economy after the devastating coronavirus pandemic.

The plan includes proposals to build a clean energy economy; support caregivers, including those providing child and elder care; and advance racial equity. Biden will offer more details about those areas in the coming weeks, senior campaign officials said. Biden proposed trillions of dollars in new federal efforts on climate change, healthcare and infrastructure even before the pandemic, and he has since called for more stimulus spending. It remains to be seen whether he could convince Congress to support such ambitious proposals.

Both Biden and Pence are visiting areas that have grown less politically hospitable for their party in the Trump era...

Reuters, https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/democrat-biden-to-unveil-plan-to-boost-manufacturing-innovation/ar-BB16wuHY
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*Wash Post: "Biden Releases U.S.- Centered Economic Plan, Challenging Trump’s ‘America First’ Agenda," July 9, 2020.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/biden-releases-700-billion-plan-to-spur-american-economy/2020/07/09/f51b846c-c173-11ea-b178-bb7b05b94af1_story.html

The presumptive Democratic presidential nominee plans to deliver a speech on his proposal Thursday afternoon in Dunmore, Pa., and visit a metal works facility in the area. It’s the first major element of what Biden’s campaign says will be a four-part agenda to spearhead an economic recovery. Biden’s pitch underscores a major shift by both major parties away from embracing globalization and free trade and toward protecting American workers and revitalizing struggling domestic industries. Those trends have been accelerated by the coronavirus pandemic, which has wreaked havoc on the economy.

Biden’s announcement suggests a recognition that support for Trump’s handling of the economy remains a bright spot in his otherwise weak poll numbers. And it reflects the success of Trump’s message that protecting American workers is more important than ensuring a free flow of trade. Trump’s rise in 2016 was built heavily on promises of bringing back American jobs, as well as blaming immigrants for hurting American workers. As president, he has stoked a trade war with China and imposed tariffs that flew in the face of his party’s orthodoxy.

Biden, who once supported the North American Free Trade Agreement and Trans-Pacific Partnership, has focused his campaign on prioritizing American industries, following the lead of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), the democratic socialist who was his top rival for the Democratic nomination. Biden’s plan also reflects the growing alarm sparked by the coronavirus pandemic about the inability of American companies to produce enough medical supplies during a national emergency.

His new platform focuses heavily on using the power of the federal government to promote a U.S. domestic manufacturing base. He is advocating a $400 billion procurement initiative to spur demand for American products and services, as well as a $300 billion investment in U.S. research and breakthrough technologies. Half of the $300 billion is in clean-energy initiatives that were previously announced, the campaign said...