华盛顿——白宫正在准备一份紧急的民粹主义信息，以推销乔·拜登总统3.5万亿美元的“重建得更好”议程，尽管众议院委员会领导人已经开始酝酿即将出台的措施。
在周二送交国会山并由美联社获得的一份备忘录中，政府警告称，在本月底之前通过企业增税和国内举措的一揽子计划是刻不容缓的。
“当我们重建经济时，我们现在在美国面临着一个根本性的选择:这一次，每个人都会参与交易吗?”备忘录上写着。“时间到了。我们必须满足眼前的需求。不是明天，不是几个月后，也不是明年。现在。”
这一紧急呼吁是在一个关键时刻发出的，众议院和参议院的民主党人希望在9月15日的最后期限之前完成这一计划。与此同时，在经历了一个残酷的夏天后，拜登试图重新专注于他的核心竞选承诺，其间新冠肺炎病例激增，人员伤亡惨重，撤离阿富汗。
众议院筹款委员会主席理查德·尼尔周二公布了他的小组的部分法案，说明了民主党人的野心以及他们面临的挑战。
这位马萨诸塞州民主党人提议为工人创建一个新的带薪家庭和医疗休假计划，比拜登自己的计划更慷慨，并扩大医疗保险，以提供牙科、视力和听力福利。
但尼尔也没有立即公布对富人和企业的增税措施，民主党人表示，增税措施的大部分成本将由他们支付，这将在未来几天内节省下来。
增税很可能是该方案中最具争议的项目之一，一些温和的民主党人面临着艰难的连任斗争，他们对此持谨慎态度。但是，如果该党希望支持其主张，即这些增税和其他储蓄将为整个措施买单，它们是至关重要的，他们表示，这将在10年内花费3.5万亿美元。
尼尔和参议院财政委员会主席罗恩·怀登·多雷。正在努力解决一些项目上的分歧，希望众议院最终批准的这项措施将在参议院基本上一帆风顺，不愿透露姓名的民主党人描述了这项立法的现状。
该法案将需要几乎每一位民主党人的支持，以清除紧密分裂的国会。方法和手段小组对整个法案的最大部分拥有管辖权，其成员计划在周四和周五开始对他们的计划进行投票。
尼尔在一份声明中说:“这是我们支持工薪家庭的历史性机遇，确保我们的经济更强大、更具包容性，并为子孙后代带来更强的韧性。
共和党人说尼尔的措施最终会提高赋税关于收入低于40万美元的人，拜登和民主党人都表示这不会发生。该小组的共和党发言人弗莱雷说:“他们在隐瞒真相。
该委员会的提议将从2023年开始为工人支付长达12周的带薪探亲假和病假，包括高收入者。拜登的计划将在十年内分阶段实施。
尼尔的提议还将从2022年开始逐步扩大视力福利的医疗保险覆盖范围，在2023年进行听证，在2028年进行牙科。他周二公布的细节中遗漏了一项将医疗保险资格年龄降至60岁的提议，该提议被认为不太可能包括在内，因为费用昂贵。
这包括增加儿童保育、长期护理设施、改善因进口和培训而被解雇的工人的福利卫生保健工人。它还要求许多雇主自动将员工纳入个人退休账户或401(k)计划等储蓄安排。
在白宫内部，9月被视为拜登议程取得进展的关键月份。在演讲和旅行中，预计总统将采取更激进的民粹主义语气，以争取对该计划的支持。
由于民主党致力于从根本上重新安排美国经济及其政府支持系统的各个方面，国会的批准没有保证。
随着共和党试图在明年的中期选举中赢得众议院和参议院席位，从而夺取对国会的控制权，民主党人已经在为针对共和党人所说的拜登的大税收和支出计划的攻击做准备选举南
在将未来的争论作为一种选择时，白宫向国会民主党人展示了政府计划反击共和党攻击的一种方式。
“反对重建更美好议程的共和党人也选择了他们站在哪一边，”白宫传播主任凯特·贝丁菲尔德给众议院民主党传播者的备忘录说。
备忘录说:“重建更美好的议程是应对这些挑战，并创造公平的竞争环境，以确保最富有的人和企业支付他们的公平份额，工作家庭获得在这个国家成功和繁荣的战斗机会。”。
White House taps populist message as Biden pushes $3.5T plan
WASHINGTON -- The White House is preparing an urgent and populist message for selling President Joe Biden's $3.5 trillion “build back better” agenda, even as House committee leaders begin churning out pieces of the forthcoming measure.
In a memo being sent Tuesday to Capitol Hill and obtained by The Associated Press, the administration warns there is no time to waste in passing the package of corporate tax hikes and domestic initiatives by the end of the month.
“We face a fundamental choice in America right now as we rebuild our economy: this time, will everyone get in on the deal?” the memo says. “The time is now. We have to meet the needs in front of us. Not tomorrow, not months from now, not next year. Right now.”
The urgent appeal comes at a crucial time, with House and Senate Democrats hoping to assemble the package by a self-imposed Sept. 15 deadline. It also comes as Biden seeks to refocus on his core campaign promises after a brutal summer, punctuated by spiking COVID-19 cases and the deadly evacuations and withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Illustrating Democrats' ambition as well as the challenges they face, House Ways and Means Chairman Richard Neal released part of his panel's portion of the bill Tuesday.
The Massachusetts Democrat proposed creating a new paid family and medical leave program for workers that is more generous than Biden's own plan and expanding Medicare to provide dental, vision and hearing benefits.
But Neal also did not immediately unveil tax boosts on the rich and corporations that Democrats say will pay for much of the measure's cost, saving that for coming days.
The tax increases are likely to be among the most contentious items in the package, with some moderate Democrats facing tough reelection fights wary of them. But they are crucial if the party wants to support its claim that those tax boosts and other savings will pay for the entire measure, which they say will cost $3.5 trillion over 10 years.
Neal and Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden, D-Ore., are trying to resolve differences over some items in hopes the measure the House ultimately approves will largely face smooth sailing in the Senate, said Democrats who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe the legislation's status.
The bill will need the support of virtually every Democrat to clear the closely divided Congress. The Ways and Means panel has jurisdiction over the biggest chunk of the overall bill, and its members plan to begin voting on their piece of the plan on Thursday and Friday.
“This is our historic opportunity to support working families and ensure our economy is stronger, more inclusive, and more resilient for generations to come,” Neal said in a statement.
Republicans say Neal's measure will end up raisingtaxeson people earning under $400,000, which Biden and Democrats have said will not happen. “They're hiding the ball,” said J.P. Freire, the panel's GOP spokesman.
The committee's proposal will pay for up to 12 weeks of paid family and medical leave for workers, beginning in 2023, including for higher earners. Biden's plan would be phased in over the decade.
Neal's proposal would also phase in Medicare coverage for vision benefits starting in 2022, hearing in 2023 and dental in 2028. Missing in the details he released Tuesday was a proposal to lower the Medicare eligibility age to 60, which has been considered unlikely to be included because it is expensive.
It includes increased spending for child care, long-term care facilities, better benefits for workers laid off due to imports and traininghealth careworkers. It would also require many employers to automatically enroll workers in savings arrangements like IRAs or 401(k) plans.
Inside the White House, September is seen as a crucial month to make gains on Biden's agenda. In speeches and travel, the president is expected to take a more aggressively populist tone as he rallies support for the plan.
Congressional approval is not guaranteed as Democrats work to fundamentally reorder aspects of the U.S. economy and its governmental support systems.
Democrats are already preparing for an onslaught of attacks over what Republicans call Biden's big tax and spending plans, as the GOP tries to wrest control of Congress by winning House and Senate seats in next year's midtermelections.
In framing the arguments ahead as a choice, the White House is showing congressional Democrats one way the administration plans to counter those Republican attacks.
“Republicans who oppose the Build Back Better agenda have chosen whose side they are on, too,” said the memo from White House Communications Director Kate Bedingfield to House Democratic communicators.
“The Build Back Better agenda is about tackling those challenges, and leveling the playing field to ensure the wealthiest and corporations pay their fair share and working families get a fighting chance to succeed and prosper in this country," the memo said.
