Less than 3 months before crucial legislative elections
Biden scores big victory for Democrats with sweeping climate and health bill
Biden hands over the pen he used to sign the Climate and Health Act to Senator Joe Manchin.
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US President Joe Biden scored a major victory for Democrats less than three months before crucial legislative elections, with the approval of his broad investment plan on climate and health, which he signed Tuesday.
The law, which includes the largest investment made by the United States in combating climate change, provides for financial incentives aimed at pushing the American economy toward renewable energy sources.
It also caps the prices of some drugs and imposes a minimum tax on large corporations.
"A country can change and that's what's happening today," Biden said in a highly electoral speech at the White House before signing the text called the "Inflation Reduction Act."
He added that "it is about the future... and about bringing progress and prosperity to American families," stressing that "it is also about proving to America and the American people that democracy is still working in the United States."
Joe Biden initially hoped for a bigger investment plan, but the mere fact that he was able to pass this reform marks a near political revival for Democrats ahead of November's midterm elections that the ruling camp has traditionally lost.
After hard negotiations with the right wing of the Democratic Party, the plan is to allocate $370 billion to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 40% by 2030.
The Republican Party has called tax credits of up to $7,500 to buy an electric car a "fraud", but the environmental advocacy group Sierra Club praised the "bold" move.
"Future generations will remember this day as the day he turned the tide against the fossil fuel industries for a safer, cleaner and fairer future for all across the country," said Ramon Cruz, president of the NGO.
The second part of this broad investment plan aims to partially correct the huge disparity in access to medical care in the United States, especially by lowering drug prices.
For the first time, the public health system "Medicare" intended for many, including those over 65 years of age, will be able to negotiate the prices of some medicines directly with pharmaceutical companies, thus obtaining more competitive prices.
To finance these investments, the reform provides for the introduction of a minimum tax of 15% for all companies whose profits exceed $1 billion.
It is estimated that this measure could generate revenues of more than 258 billion dollars for the US federal state over the next 10 years.
"I know there are people today who have a bleak and desperate view of our country, but I'm not one of them," Biden said Tuesday.
He added that climate and health reform, which all Republicans voted against, reveals that "Americans have won and lobbyists have lost."
He continued, "This is the choice before us: We can protect the powerful, or we can have the courage to build a future that provides opportunities for all," stressing, "This is the America I believe in."
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