Washington (AFP)

Tax the richest, pamper the middle class: Joe Biden, weakened since the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan, will defend on Thursday a gigantic public spending plan, a flagship project of his mandate, which the US Congress has yet to vote on.

The American president will explain at 17:45 GMT how he intends to establish "a more level playing field" in economic matters and to guarantee that "the middle class, backbone of our country, can finally breathe".

The 78-year-old Democrat has been strengthening his economic and social discourse for several weeks.

He insists that the wealthiest should "pay their fair share" of tax, whether they are powerful multinationals or personalities.

Joe Biden, if he wants to raise taxes on big business and the richest, canceling the favors of the Trump era, promises not to touch that of the Americans of the middle class.

He also wants to bring them more financial peace, by reducing the costs of health, education and childcare.

These great social promises, the bill of which reached 3.500 billion dollars, are backed by a more consensual program of investment in infrastructure (bridges, roads, electricity network, etc.), amounting to 1.2 trillion dollars.

This last component, which can even count on the votes of the Republican opposition, is more advanced in the legislative process.

But the other side, unprecedented in its scope and very daring in substance, in a country where social safety nets are weak, is far from being achieved.

The next few weeks promise to be feverish in the halls of the Capitol, where the US Congress sits, and will be a real test for the US president.

Joe Biden, with a very long experience as a senator, willingly lets himself be presented as an expert in parliamentary games.

But will his undeniable skill be enough, as his popularity hits after the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan?

- Red carpet and Nobel Prize -

Some big names in Joe Biden's party are loudly worried about gigantic social spending.

On Wednesday, the White House received visits from Senator Joe Manchin and Senator Kyrsten Sinema, two Democrats openly skeptical - and elected in states, West Virginia and Arizona, where the electorate is not certain of 'office at their party.

In contrast to Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, figure of the left wing, elected to the House of Representatives in New York, to a seat that has voted Democratic by an overwhelming majority for thirty years.

"AOC" caused a sensation on Monday night at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (Met) gala, wearing a white gown marked with a scarlet message: "TAX THE RICH".

Far from the red carpet, 15 Nobel Laureates in Economics have published an open letter in support of the president's projects - which the White House was quick to share via Twitter and in an email to journalists stamped "In case you would have missed it ".

"Because this program invests in long-term economic capacity and will strengthen the possibility for more Americans to participate productively in economic life, it will decrease inflationary pressures in the long term," write these 15 economists, including Joseph Stiglitz, Paul Romer, Edmund Phelps or Angus Deaton.

Critics of the president's plans believe that the huge planned spending will drive up prices and undermine purchasing power.

This comes at a time when Americans are already facing rising prices for gasoline, furniture, food, housing or used cars.

However, this phenomenon should be temporary, according to the majority of experts.

© 2021 AFP