So it's off to the Senate---it's looking as though the Dems are using their 2 years majority a lot more successfully than the Republicans did under Trump:
House Democrats on Friday passed their mammoth social spending and climate plan in a 220-213 vote, securing a major victory for the party ahead of the Thanksgiving break and providing a boost to President Biden at a tumultuous moment for his administration.
That Congressional Budget Office (CBO) assessment, released Thursday evening, flew in the face of Biden's promise that the legislation would be fully paid for. It has sparked some debate - and plenty of confusion - over how much the bill will cost overall.
The CBO found that, in total, the package allocates $1.64 trillion in new federal spending over ten years. But unlike the White House, the budget office does not include the tax credits as part of that top-line number. If those credits are added to the CBO's spending tally, the figure would jump into the $2.4 trillion range - well above Biden's initial $1.75 trillion framework.
The White House quickly disputed the CBO's figures, saying the scoring agency had underestimated new revenues that would flow from increased IRS enforcement. The administration also scrambled top aides - including Brian Deese, Biden's chief economic adviser - to meet with the moderate holdouts to win their support.
"What I saw is that if you take Treasury estimates on the IRS provision, we end up with a surplus," said Rep. Stephanie Murphy (D-Fla.), a co-chair of the moderate Blue Dog Coalition. "And I have received sufficient information to understand how Treasury gets to their estimate. Because they're the ones that implement the IRS provisions."
Republicans quickly panned such arguments and accused Democrats of breaking their promise to pass a bill that's deficit neutral.
"Contrary to President Biden's repeated claim that this bill will cost zero dollars, it will actually cost trillions," said Rep. Tom Cole (Okla.), senior Republican on the Rules Committee.
Friday's vote caps months of messy infighting between liberal and moderate House Democrats who have jousted over the size, scope and strategy surrounding the multi-trillion dollar package, a cornerstone of Biden's economic agenda.
The public divisions have helped to drag Biden's approval numbers underwater and have shadowed the party's efforts to utilize their control of Congress and the White House ahead of the 2022 midterm elections, when they are looking to defend slim majorities in the House and Senate.
Democrats have pressed ahead to pass popular legislation in the face of rising inflation, an ongoing COVID-19 crisis and a disastrous showing in state elections around the country earlier in the month, including a stunning loss in the high-profile Virginia governor's race.
The House vote, which sends the spending package to the Senate, comes just days after Biden signed into law a $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill - back-to-back victories Democrats hope will demonstrate their governing chops and give them something to tout back home.
The social-spending bill includes a host of policies that Democrats have sought for years, or even decades. The list includes child care subsidies, universal preschool, paid family leave, renewable energy tax incentives and extensions of both the expanded child tax credit and enhanced ObamaCare subsidies.
It also features efforts to slash prescription drug prices for seniors - a provision Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has tried to pass, unsuccessfully, since her first stint with the gavel in 2007.
All told, Pelosi said, the package "is a spectacular agenda for the future, with transformational action on health care, family care and climate that will make a significant difference in the lives of millions of Americans."
To help offset the cost of the new spending and tax cuts, the legislation includes a series of tax increases for high-income households and corporations, such as a surtax for multimillionaires and a 15 percent minimum tax for large corporations.
MSN
www.msn.com
House Democrats on Friday passed their mammoth social spending and climate plan in a 220-213 vote, securing a major victory for the party ahead of the Thanksgiving break and providing a boost to President Biden at a tumultuous moment for his administration.
That Congressional Budget Office (CBO) assessment, released Thursday evening, flew in the face of Biden's promise that the legislation would be fully paid for. It has sparked some debate - and plenty of confusion - over how much the bill will cost overall.
The CBO found that, in total, the package allocates $1.64 trillion in new federal spending over ten years. But unlike the White House, the budget office does not include the tax credits as part of that top-line number. If those credits are added to the CBO's spending tally, the figure would jump into the $2.4 trillion range - well above Biden's initial $1.75 trillion framework.
The White House quickly disputed the CBO's figures, saying the scoring agency had underestimated new revenues that would flow from increased IRS enforcement. The administration also scrambled top aides - including Brian Deese, Biden's chief economic adviser - to meet with the moderate holdouts to win their support.
"What I saw is that if you take Treasury estimates on the IRS provision, we end up with a surplus," said Rep. Stephanie Murphy (D-Fla.), a co-chair of the moderate Blue Dog Coalition. "And I have received sufficient information to understand how Treasury gets to their estimate. Because they're the ones that implement the IRS provisions."
Republicans quickly panned such arguments and accused Democrats of breaking their promise to pass a bill that's deficit neutral.
"Contrary to President Biden's repeated claim that this bill will cost zero dollars, it will actually cost trillions," said Rep. Tom Cole (Okla.), senior Republican on the Rules Committee.
Friday's vote caps months of messy infighting between liberal and moderate House Democrats who have jousted over the size, scope and strategy surrounding the multi-trillion dollar package, a cornerstone of Biden's economic agenda.
The public divisions have helped to drag Biden's approval numbers underwater and have shadowed the party's efforts to utilize their control of Congress and the White House ahead of the 2022 midterm elections, when they are looking to defend slim majorities in the House and Senate.
Democrats have pressed ahead to pass popular legislation in the face of rising inflation, an ongoing COVID-19 crisis and a disastrous showing in state elections around the country earlier in the month, including a stunning loss in the high-profile Virginia governor's race.
The House vote, which sends the spending package to the Senate, comes just days after Biden signed into law a $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill - back-to-back victories Democrats hope will demonstrate their governing chops and give them something to tout back home.
The social-spending bill includes a host of policies that Democrats have sought for years, or even decades. The list includes child care subsidies, universal preschool, paid family leave, renewable energy tax incentives and extensions of both the expanded child tax credit and enhanced ObamaCare subsidies.
It also features efforts to slash prescription drug prices for seniors - a provision Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has tried to pass, unsuccessfully, since her first stint with the gavel in 2007.
All told, Pelosi said, the package "is a spectacular agenda for the future, with transformational action on health care, family care and climate that will make a significant difference in the lives of millions of Americans."
To help offset the cost of the new spending and tax cuts, the legislation includes a series of tax increases for high-income households and corporations, such as a surtax for multimillionaires and a 15 percent minimum tax for large corporations.
