{"id":124641,"date":"2021-07-08T20:33:47","date_gmt":"2021-07-09T03:33:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/69.46.6.243\/?p=124641"},"modified":"2021-07-08T20:33:47","modified_gmt":"2021-07-09T03:33:47","slug":"president-biden-on-the-benefits-of-the-build-back-better-agenda-for-working-families","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/?p=124641","title":{"rendered":"President Biden on the Benefits of the Build Back Better Agenda for Working Families"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Crystal Lake, Illinois&#8230;Thank you, Edith.  Thank you, thank you, thank you.  (Applause.)  Please.  Please, be seated.  Mr. President \u2014 what he hadn\u2019t told you today: He had to delay his vacation to be here today.  (Laughter.)  He heard Biden is coming.  He goes, \u201cOh, my God, when is he coming?\u201d  (Laughter.)  But \u2014 (laughs) \u2014 so he could show me around McHenry County College.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/hz1ZHTx7sQE\" title=\"YouTube video player\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m glad to be here with great Illinois leaders.  I want you all to \u2014 you know, America is back.  America is back.  (Applause.)  And in no small part because of the men and women that I serve with. <\/p>\n<p>Governor Pritzker, stand up, man.  Stand up.  (Applause.)  This is a good man. <\/p>\n<p>If you really want someone in a foxhole with you when you\u2019re in trouble, you want Senator Tammy Duckworth.  Tammy.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>And the guy I rely on more than anyone else in the United States Senate \u2014 and I\u2019ve served with him for years; we have a lot in common in terms of losses as well as gains \u2014 is Dick Durbin.  Dick.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>And Congresswoman Underwood, who got me a passport to her town.  (Applause.)  Her mom and dad are mildly proud with good reason.  (Laughter.)  Good reason.  Actually, her mom looks like her sister.  (Laughter.) <\/p>\n<p>Last week, I was up in Wisconsin to talk about a bipartisan agreement to modernize American infrastructure and, in the process, create millions of good-paying jobs.  That\u2019s not my estimate \u2014 that\u2019s Wall Street estimates; that\u2019s everybody\u2019s estimate.  Millions of good-paying jobs.  Not $7, not $8, not $10, not even $15 an hour.  Good prevailing-wage jobs.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>And here\u2019s what it means for Illinois: You\u2019ve got, like many states \u2014 all states \u2014 you\u2019ve got 230- \u2014 2,374 bridges and over 6,200 miles of highway that are in disrepair.<\/p>\n<p>As a result, every driver in this state pays a hidden tax<br \/>\nof about $600 per year in wasted time and wasted fuel because of the nature of the roads and bridges \u2014 and, by the way, you\u2019re better than a lot of states \u2014 not to mention the challenge of getting to work or getting to the daycare center on time to avoid that late fee when you pick up your child.<\/p>\n<p>Your governor has an ambitious infrastructure plan, and under a bipartisan infrastructure agreement, we\u2019re going to make the biggest investment in roads and bridges since the construction of the Interstate Highway System, literally creating millions of good-paying jobs.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>And God willing, we\u2019re not going to have 40 \u2014 40 weeks of \u201cThis is Infrastructure Week.\u201d  (Laughter.)  Remember those?<\/p>\n<p>Think what it will mean to McHenry\u2019s entrepreneurial agricultural program if we can get products more easily to Chicago.  Think about how much easier life will be when it\u2019s quicker to drive on Randall Road.  (Laughter.)<\/p>\n<p>Look, this agreement also allows us to replace every lead pipe and service line in America, benefitting 10 million homes.  (Applause.)  It\u2019s going to address \u2014 it\u2019s going to address lead exposure to 400,000 of our schools and daycare facilities where children drink that water.  This would be the largest investment in clean drinking water in American history when we pass it.<\/p>\n<p>In every \u2014 1 in every 10 people in Illinois lacks access to high-speed Internet.  The bipartisan agreement that Dick and others have made sure we\u2019re getting \u2014 the agreement allows us to connect every American to reliable, high-speed, affordable Internet \u2014 every single American, rural and urban.  And, by the way, those of you who are parents, who had kids at home, tell me what Internet means this last year.  (Laughter.)  If they\u2019re school age.  <\/p>\n<p>Well, from 2010 to 2020, Illinois experienced 49 extreme weather events \u2014 although I heard today from the senator north of here that there \u2014 a Republican senator \u2014 there is no global warming.  Just so you know, there\u2019s no such thing.  (Laughter.) <\/p>\n<p>But those weather events cost this state roughly $50 billion in damages.  And we\u2019re going to up upgrade the electric grid to make it more resilient to extreme weather and other threats.<\/p>\n<p>There\u2019s a lot more the agreement is going to do to encourage the physical and ensure \u2014 the physical infrastructure lays the foundation for a strong, durable, and sustainable competitive economy.<\/p>\n<p>But what I want to talk to you about today is human infrastructure.  It\u2019s essential to that foundation, as well.  To truly win the 21st century and once again lead the world, to truly build an economy from the bottom up and the middle out, to truly deal everybody in this time, we need to invest in our people.  We need to invest in our people.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s why, in addition to the bipartisan infrastructure agreement that I believe we\u2019re going to get done, I\u2019m here to make the case for the second critical part of my domestic agenda.  It\u2019s a combination of parts of my American Jobs Plan that were essential and not included in the bipartisan infrastructure plan, as well as my American Families Plan. <\/p>\n<p>In Washington, they call it a \u201creconciliation bill.\u201d  That\u2019s a fancy way of saying, with a filibuster that our friends on the other side use constantly \u2014 more than ever been used in history \u2014 it means you got to get 60 votes to get anything done.  We\u2019re 50-50 Senate with a Vice President who happens to be a Democrat.<\/p>\n<p>And back in the campaign, you know, I said we\u2019re going to build back, and we\u2019re going to build back better.  Not just \u2014 we can\u2019t just build back; we got to build back better.<\/p>\n<p>And today, I want to outline some of the key pieces of this Build Back Better agenda and what\u2019s it going to do for the people of Illinois and the people of the United States.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s about a country, once again, that inspires and leads the world with the opportunities we provide, the cures we discovery, the technolog- \u2014 that we discover \u2014 the technologies we pioneer, and industries we create.  You know, and a nation that leads the world in combatting the existential threat of climate change.<\/p>\n<p>The Build Back Better plan \u2014 agenda starts with education.  You know, one of the reasons why we were the leading country in the world for so long, and still on the edge, is because we\u2019re the first nation \u2014 industrial nation in the world to require \u2014 to allow 12 years of free education back at the turn of the 20th century.  But everybody is caught up.<\/p>\n<p>At the time, they were debating what should be education in America.  The argument was there should be 12 years of free education.  And that\u2019s what\u2019s got us ahead.  That\u2019s what had us leap ahead of the rest of the world.<\/p>\n<p>But as (inaudible) today, everybody is caught up.  Does anybody think, in the 21st century, with the change that\u2019s taking place in technology and across the board, that 12 years of education is enough to be able to live a middle-class life?  I don\u2019t think so.<\/p>\n<p>And so, the fact of the matter is we\u2019ve decided \u2014 I\u2019ve decided we should have a minimum of 14 years of education.  Fourteen years of education \u2014 which I\u2019ll explain in a second.<\/p>\n<p>You know, as the First Lady \u2014 I\u2019m Jill Biden\u2019s husband, but \u2014 (laughter) \u2014 but as Jill would say \u2014 and she\u2019s a full-time community college professor while being the First Lady \u2014 she often says, \u201cAny nation that out-educates us is going to out-compete us.\u201d  Any nation that out-educates us is going to out compete us. <\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s why I want to guarantee an additional four additional years of public education for every person in America, starting with providing two years of universal, high-quality preschool for three- and four-year-olds, building \u2014 (applause) \u2014 building on what the governor has been doing here in Illinois.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>In the last 10 years, studies out of the great universities \u2014 study of a high-quality program here in Chicago \u2014 found that low-income children participating in preschool were 47 percent more likely to earn an associate\u2019s degree or higher, and get through school without any difficulty.  We have to build on that foundation for future success.  And then I want to add two years of free community college for everyone.  (Applause.) <\/p>\n<p>And we can afford it.  I\u2019ll tell you how. <\/p>\n<p>That can boost the earnings of a high school graduate with low-wage jobs by nearly $6,000 a year on average.<\/p>\n<p>The average annual cost of a two-year degree in Illinois is $4,200.  Under my proposal, that cost would be zero.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>But it\u2019s not just tuition that\u2019s expensive; as was pointed out, living expenses, housing, meals, transportation.  And that\u2019s why I propose to increase a maximum Pell Grant \u2014 which, if you are below a certain income, you qualify for a Pell Grant \u2014 from about $6,500 to $8,000 a year.  (Applause.)  And that will fill it out. <\/p>\n<p>I know \u2014 I know that here at McHenry, you have a dual enrollment program so students from places like Woodstock High School and other high schools, you get credit for taking college classes here.  Well, my plan will \u2014 will provide resources to expand programs like the one you have here.<\/p>\n<p>My plan will also do more to invest in high-quality job training and apprenticeships in fast-growing sectors like public health, childcare, manufacturing, information technology, clean energy so that all Americans can get the skills that employers want that lead to good middle-class and \u2014 I was \u2014 I make no apology \u2014 union jobs.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>It would also \u2014 it would also make strategic investments in teachers \u2014 in the teacher pipeline.  Because even before the pandemic, our school system was 100,000 teachers short here in America, particularly in high-demand areas.<\/p>\n<p>Our children are the kite strings that lift our national ambitions aloft, and our teachers are the ones that help them<br \/>\nbelieve they can do anything.  I bet every one of your success can name the teacher that helped change your life.  I bet every one \u2014 every one of us.  There\u2019s somebody who came along and made us believe in ourselves.  That\u2019s the really sec- \u2014 the secret of teachers.<\/p>\n<p>My plan will reduce student debt for future teachers, double the size of the annual federal scholarships for future teachers.<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019ll also support $100 billion in school infrastructure improvements, including community college, to make sure that they are safe and healthy places for learning, and that all students \u2014 with the labs and technology they need to be able to compete in the 21st century.<\/p>\n<p>Of course, an ability to take these jobs often depends on the availability of childcare.  As a single father, when I was first got to the Senate, I had two young boys who had just lost their mom and their sister in an automobile accident.  If I hadn\u2019t had the family I have \u2014 my sister, best \u2014 my younger sister, my best friend, and my brother, and my mom help out \u2014 I couldn\u2019t have done it.  But not everybody has that kind of support.   <\/p>\n<p>I just toured your Children\u2019s Learning Center.  It\u2019s an amazing resource.  Students and faculty can have their children cared for.  Students can earn their associate degrees in early childhood education as well.  High-quality childcare options should be the rule, not the exception.<\/p>\n<p>So, on my way in here, I met with Mike Sayre, who wrote me a letter about his struggle to find affordable childcare, and he wanted me to \u2014 he wanted to know what my plans were.  Well, Mike, I hope you know now.  Here we are.<\/p>\n<p>My plan is to provide access to quality, affordable childcare with more childcare centers in community college campuses with new and upgraded childcare facilities all across the country. (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>Businesses \u2014 businesses will get a full tax credit to build on-site facilities.  And the reason they want to do that is not just to be nice.  Business \u2014 because studies show when there\u2019s an on-site childcare center, businesses have less employee turnover, less absenteeism, and higher productivity.  It\u2019s overwhelmingly in their interest to do it.<\/p>\n<p>Middle-class families will pay no more than 7 percent of their income for high-quality childcare for children up to age five.  And the most hard-pressed working families won\u2019t have to pay a dime.<\/p>\n<p>My plan will also invest in childcare workforce with better wages, benefits, and training opportunities.<\/p>\n<p>Look, we\u2019re also going to give parents the option to take up to an $8,000 tax credit to cover childcare expenses, if that\u2019s the preferred route.  That\u2019s good for families and it\u2019s good for our economy, and it will create more jobs.<\/p>\n<p>My plan will also provide up to 12 weeks of paid family leave for medical \u2014 (applause) \u2014 up to 12 weeks of paid family leave.  Look, we\u2019re one of the few major economies in the world that doesn\u2019t cover paid family and medical leave. <\/p>\n<p>And the most difficult moments some will ever face:<br \/>\nNo one should have to choose between a job and a paycheck and take caring of someone you love \u2014 a parent, a spouse, a child.<\/p>\n<p>Look, we will tackle the maternal mortality crisis, as well, that impacts on Black and Native American mothers disproportionately.  And what \u2014 and I want to thank Congresswoman Underwood for her leadership in this area.  (Applause.)  For real.<\/p>\n<p>As I\u2019ve said again and again, people who really need a tax break in this country are America\u2019s working families.  It\u2019s time they get a tax break.<\/p>\n<p>So, my Build Back Better agenda would extend the expanded Child Tax Credit we passed under my American Rescue Plan.  Those of you who have children under the age of seven [six], you\u2019re going to get \u2014 and depending on your income \u2014 your income taxes \u2014 you\u2019re going to get a cash payment back.  Up to now, guess what?  You get $2,000 to declare a dependent.  If you have two children, you get $4,000 off a $10,000 tax bill.  It\u2019s important.<\/p>\n<p>But if you don\u2019t have enough \u2014 you don\u2019t have enough \u2014 you don\u2019t make enough money to be able to have \u2014 to owe that kind of tax, you don\u2019t get a tax credit, you don\u2019t get anything.  Well, under this proposal, guess what?  You\u2019re in a situation where if you have a child under the age of seven [six], you get back $3,600 in cash.  In addition to that, those of you who are in that situation are going to start to see that coming in by the end of this month, on a monthly basis.  It can change the lives of people. <\/p>\n<p>Starting next week, families will begin to receive one of the largest-ever single-year tax cuts aimed to families with children.  And every child under age 6 is $3,600; every child between 6 and 17 is $3,000.  It\u2019s not as a credit against your taxes, but a direct payment.  You\u2019ll get cash.  Cash.  That\u2019s what you\u2019ll get.<\/p>\n<p>For example, a middle-class family with two children can expect to receive $7,200.  You\u2019ll get the first half \u2014 the $3,600 \u2014 paid out at $600 a month between July and December, and you\u2019ll get the rest between January and Tax Day.<\/p>\n<p>With this one tax cut, every study shows that childcare \u2014 childcare is cutting poverty in ha- \u2014 by 40 percent.  Families with children who qualify for this, it cuts poverty by 40 percent.<\/p>\n<p>So, let\u2019s extend the tax cut at least through 2025, and let\u2019s expand \u2014 (applause) \u2014 let\u2019s expand free meals for millions more children in schools, with the assistance during the summer months when they don\u2019t have access to those school meals. <\/p>\n<p>We support families with children.  We also need to provide greater dignity for our nation\u2019s senior citizens who care for them. <\/p>\n<p>Look, there are hundreds of thousands of older adults<br \/>\nand people with disabilities who need home- and community-based care services.  They qualify for it under Medicaid, but there\u2019s a backlog of thousands of people.  But one study showed that $3,000 spent helping a senior stay in their home by providing \u2014 it saves the country more than $20,000 a year in medical costs. <\/p>\n<p>At the same time, more than 1.5 million Americans work in homecare.  They\u2019re disproportionately women, women of color, and immigrants, and those jobs are among the lowest paid in our economy.  One in six homecare workers lives in poverty.  We need to do better on both sides of the equation. <\/p>\n<p>My plan expands homecare for older and disabled Americans,<br \/>\nwhile improving jobs and pay for homecare workers who care for them.<\/p>\n<p>And here\u2019s the deal: You save a lot of money if you don\u2019t have to go to a home.  Keeping people in their own home, mentally and every other way, is a benefit \u2014 a significant benefit for the community, as well as cost. <\/p>\n<p>We also need to continue to make healthcare more affordable.  When we lowered premiums and expanded coverage for the American Re- \u2014 in my American Rescue Plan, more than 1.5 million people signed up for what used to be called \u201cObamacare.\u201d  I want to make these premium reductions permanent so we can get even more people covered.<\/p>\n<p>We need to deal with the shortage of affordable housing in America.  Over 10 million renters in this country pay more than half their income for the rent on their apartment, and the lack of affordable housing prevents people from moving to communities where there are more opportunities.<\/p>\n<p>So we\u2019re going to make historic investment in affordable housing, increasing and improving the housing supply by building and rehabilitating more than 2 million homes, especially in places that need more housing.<\/p>\n<p>And we need to invest not just in the physical and human infrastructure of today, we need to invest in the jobs and industries of tomorrow.<\/p>\n<p>Three decades ago \u2014 and this always disturbs me, even just repeating it \u2014 three decades ago, the United States was number one in the world for a share of their GDP being invested in research and development.  We were number one in the world.  We\u2019re now number eight [nine] in the world.  Number eight [nine] in the world.  China was number \u2014 or \u2014 excuse me, we\u2019re \u2014 China was number nine [eight] in the world; now they\u2019re number two in the world.<\/p>\n<p>Folks, Democrats and Republicans agree we can\u2019t afford to lose this race.  They came together in the Senate on an Innovation and Competition Act \u2014 that Dick was very much a part of \u2014 to help us grow the industries that win the jobs of the future.<\/p>\n<p>We need to lay the foundation for the next generation of American jobs and American leadership in manufacturing and technology.<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019re going to invest in Historically Black Colleges and Universities and other Minority-Serving Institutions because while these schools may not have the endowments or the labs needed to generate these jobs, these students are just as capable of learning about all of the things that are going to provide the jobs of the future.  <\/p>\n<p>And, of course, no challenge is as urgent as climate change.  Last week, I met with eight governors for a better part of an hour, all from the western states, Republicans and Democrats.  They\u2019re facing extreme heat, record drought,<br \/>\nand a fire season that threatens to be much longer and more dangerous and more destructive than ever. <\/p>\n<p>Last year, for example, more than 10 million acres burned in the West \u2014 10 million acres \u2014 not counting the lives lost and homes lost.  More land than exists in my home state of Delaware and my neighboring state of Maryland combined.  So if a fire swept through and took out every single thing in the state of Delaware and Maryland.  The drought conditions, this year, are twice as bad.  You\u2019ve seen the pictures.  Reservoirs that are 40 feet down, 50 feet down. <\/p>\n<p>The extreme weather isn\u2019t just in the West.  In Illinois, farmers downstate are dealing with more frequent droughts.  And two weeks ago, just south of here, you just had a nearly unprecedented tornado. <\/p>\n<p>We can\u2019t wait any longer to deal with the climate crisis.  We see it with our own eyes, and it\u2019s time to act.<\/p>\n<p>The bipartisan agreement we reached makes some major strides.  It\u2019s going to allow the transition of thousands of old, for example, of diesel school buses and buses \u2014 city buses.  We\u2019re going to change them to electric buses.  There are roughly a half a million of these iconic yellow school buses on the road today.  Ninety-five percent of them run on diesel, for example.   And diesel pollutes the air and is linked to asthma and other health problems, and it hurts our communities and it causes our students to miss school.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019ll put Americans to work capping tens of thousands of abandoned oil and gas wells that are leaking methane.  It\u2019s devastating.  And the wages to fill these \u2014 cap these wells are the same wages that it took to dig the wells, making people earn \u2014 be able to earn a prevailing wage to do it.  There\u2019s thousands of them.<\/p>\n<p>But we need to go further.<\/p>\n<p>I want to provide tax cuts for businesses and consumers who invest in clean energy technologies like renewables, battery storage, next-generation aviation fuels, electric vehicles.<br \/>\nI want to set the clean electricity standard that moves us to a fully clean and reliable grid.<\/p>\n<p>These steps are going to create good-paying union jobs and spur demand for domestic manufacturing, accelerating clean energy and clean cars, growing our capacity to build those technologies on factory floors with union workers, here in the United States.<\/p>\n<p>And we create a new generation of jobs in clean energy and manufacturing.  And I also want to enlist a new generation of climate, conservation, and reliance workers \u2014 excuse me, resilience workers \u2014 like FDR did when the American work plan \u2014 preserving our landscape with a Civilian Conservation Corps.  It\u2019s a similar thing.<\/p>\n<p>We can put Americans to work strengthening public lands and waters, and making our communities \u2014 rural and urban \u2014 more resilient against extreme weather.  And we can take on the long-overdue work of advancing environmental justice by addressing pollution.<\/p>\n<p>My plan is also going to give grants to spur innovative policies and land projects \u2014 lo- \u2014 excuse me, local projects, like installing community solar and storage and disadvanta- \u2014 in disadvantaged communities; replacing streetlights that are made in America with LED bulbs that cost a whole lot less and last a whole lot longer; making upgrades in homes and schools<br \/>\nand community centers to boost energy efficiency and cut electric bills.<\/p>\n<p>Folks, I\u2019ve laid out a lot of plans here, but that\u2019s because it\u2019s time, and we have to think bigger, and we have to act bolder, and we have to build back better.<\/p>\n<p>When we passed the American Rescue Plan, the naysayers and the doubters said it wouldn\u2019t work.  Well, we\u2019ve created over 3 million jobs since I took office \u2014 more jobs in the first months of a presidential administration than any time in American history. <\/p>\n<p>And last week, the Congressional Budget Office<br \/>\ndoubled their projections of the 2021 economic growth from 3.2 percent to 7.4 percent, and the OECD thinks it could be higher.  That puts the America Rescue Plan \u2014 and our work is going to move forward to do a lot of things, including \u2014 we\u2019re close to defeating the virus. <\/p>\n<p>The last time energy \u2014 the economy grew at this rate was in 1984 and Ronald Reagan was telling us it was an American morning.  Well, this is going to be an American century.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>With my American Families Plan and the other elements of the Build Back Better agenda, experts and Wall Street analysts have said that we\u2019ll create millions of good-paying jobs for years and decades to come, not just in the near term.<\/p>\n<p>So, I\u2019m going to be making the case to the American people until the job is done, until we bring this bipartisan deal home, until we meet the needs of families today and the economy of tomorrow.  And we can pay for it. <\/p>\n<p>Let me give you a rough example.  This isn\u2019t \u2014 you know, and by the way, the American \u2014 the \u2014 the plan for infrastructure is paid for.  It\u2019s paid for.  And this plan that I\u2019m talking about \u2014 which is really expensive if you add it all up \u2014 well, guess what?  The fact is that it\u2019s paid for as well.  And let me tell you how we\u2019re going to pay for it.<\/p>\n<p>Some of the ways to pay for the rest of it is: The last couple of years, for example, 55 of the Fortune 500 companies making billions of dollars did not pay a single penny in taxes \u2014 not one single cent.<\/p>\n<p>Well, I don\u2019t want to punish anybody, but everybody \u2014 and I hope someday my grandchildren grow up to be billionaires.  That\u2019d be wonderful, especially for a guy who for 36 years was listed as the poorest man in United States Congress.  (Laughter.) <\/p>\n<p>But having said that, all kidding aside, everybody has to pay their fair share.  I\u2019m not trying to gouge anybody, but, I mean, just get in the game. <\/p>\n<p>If we put in place a minimum 15 percent tax on the profits of corporations, the ones that didn\u2019t pay any tax, that would raise a quarter of a trillion dollars \u2014 $240 billion. <\/p>\n<p>But there\u2019s a loophole in the system called \u201cstepped-up basis.\u201d  That loophole goes: If I made a capital gains and I was a wealthy person, and I was going to cash in my stock, and I was going to have to pay a tax, I was going to make, you know, $400,000, and I was going to pay X amount of taxes \u2014 if, on the way to cash it in I get hit by a truck, God forbid, and died, and it was left to my daughter, there would be no tax paid.  It\u2019s not an inheritance tax.  It was a tax due 10 seconds earlier. <\/p>\n<p>We closed that loophole, and that saves us $400 billion a year \u2014 not a year \u2014 $400 billion over this period, which is enough to pay for the Child \u2014 Child Care Tax Credit. <\/p>\n<p>If we end tax breaks for fossil fuels, and make polluters pay to clean up the messes they\u2019ve made, that would raise $90 billion.  We\u2019re not asking them to do anything that \u2014 that is unfair; we\u2019re just not going to subsidize them anymore.  They\u2019re doing well, thank \u2014 thank you.  And the messes they made, they should clean up. <\/p>\n<p>Well, if we ask the top 1 percent \u2014 and I hope many of you are in the top 1 percent \u2014 maybe.  (Laughter.)<\/p>\n<p>You know, that tax cut that was passed in 2017 was all \u2014 it raised the deficit by over $2 trillion \u2014 not a penny paid for, and it didn\u2019t come back with anything.  That \u2014 that, in fact \u2014 that entire $2 trillion \u2014 the vast majority went to the top one-tenth of 1 percent of the American people. <\/p>\n<p>One percent \u2014 you know, if we just \u2014 1 percent \u2014 the folks in the top 1 percent, if they just paid their personal income state tax, the same as it was under President George Bush \u2014 George W. Bush \u2014 that would generate $13 billion a year.  It would raise the tax from what it is now, 35, to 39 percent.  It\u2019s what it \u2014 I mean, it\u2019s not like this idea where you\u2019d listen to the guy that used to have his job that somehow we\u2019re gouging people.<\/p>\n<p>The fact of the matter is, a lot of you, if you\u2019re \u2014 if you\u2019re a plumber or a teacher, you\u2019re probably paying 25, 26 percent.  Some of you be paying higher. <\/p>\n<p>But, here, look: It\u2019s enough to provide for \u2014 that one change \u2014 enough to provide for two years free community college for every student in America. <\/p>\n<p>Now \u2014 (applause) \u2014 now, people say that one of the purposes of taxes is to also generate growth along with making sure that we can pay for our basic needs. <\/p>\n<p>Well, let me ask you, what is more likely to grow the economy and enhance us: continuing the tax cut at 37 percent, or spending \u2014 having to pay 39-point \u2014 and a half percent, generating economic growth?  Because now you have a tax system that will allow millions of students to go to community college. <\/p>\n<p>When I was with Barack as Vice President, he asked me to do a study.  And I spent \u2014 and I \u2014 your sister, Penny Pritzker, was part of my effort to taking care of it.  And the effort was simple.  It came along, and we said, \u201cOkay, what do we\u2026\u201d \u2014 and we (inaudible) three hundred and, I think, forty-seven \u2014 don\u2019t hold me to the exact number \u2014 of the CEOs of the Fortune 500 companies.  Said, \u201cWhat do you need most?\u201d  You know what they said to almost \u2014 to a person?  \u201cI need a better-educated workforce.\u201d  They\u2019re not prepared to pay for it. <\/p>\n<p>Imagine if we present the world a nation with a better educated workforce.  It helps everybody.  The point is, we can pay for our entire plan and make the tax system fairer for all Americans.  It\u2019s about time.<\/p>\n<p>There\u2019s a lot of work ahead of us to finish the job, but we\u2019re going to get it done.  We\u2019re going to reimagine what our economy and our future could be, and show the world \u2014 just as importantly, we\u2019ll show ourselves \u2014 that democracy \u2014 democracy can deliver for the people of Illinois and the people of America, and the world can lead again.  (Applause.) <\/p>\n<p>Thank you, ladies and gentlemen.  I know that\u2019s a boring speech, but it\u2019s an important speech. <\/p>\n<p>God bless you all, and may God protect our troops. <\/p>\n<p>Thank you.  Thank you.  Thank you.  Appreciate it. <\/p>\n<p>And excuse my back.  I apologize.  I apologize.  Thank you.  (Applause.) <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Crystal Lake, Illinois&#8230;Thank you, Edith. Thank you, thank you, thank you. (Applause.) Please. Please, be seated. Mr. President \u2014 what he hadn\u2019t told you today: He had to delay his vacation to be here today. (Laughter.) He heard Biden is coming. He goes, \u201cOh, my God, when is he coming?\u201d (Laughter.) But \u2014 (laughs) \u2014 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":124642,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_cbd_carousel_blocks":"[]","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20,5,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-124641","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-government","category-news","last_archivepost"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Fullscreen-capture-782021-82248-PM.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124641","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=124641"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124641\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/124642"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=124641"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=124641"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=124641"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}