Vice President Kamala Harris acknowledged on Friday that part of the goal of the Democrats’ $ 1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan, which received no Republican support, was to approve social policies to address problems such as day care centers.
“This was the intentional purpose of the American rescue plan, which was to look at child care, to look at our child care workers, to look at our children, to lift them out of poverty,” said Harris in New Haven, Connecticut. , on Friday. “And doing what has long been overlooked, which is to understand that our children – we cannot subordinate them to public policies, as you know, is because I think they are small people, small problems.”
Notably, the American Redemption Plan increases the Child Tax Credit from $ 2,000 by up to $ 1,600 for parents of young children and also expands eligibility.
The Earned Income Tax Credit was also expanded.
SEN. HAGERTY SAYS THAT GOP SHOULD PERFORM DEMS “SOCIALIST PROGRAM WISH LIST” IN STIMULUS
Harris also said that the items included in the account are intended to help families, including direct payments and an extension of unemployment benefits, indirectly help children in the context of supporting the family in which the child is being raised.
Republicans resisted the massive spending effort in part by claiming that “it was not about the virus”, as House minority leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., Declared during a news conference earlier this month. Instead, they said Democrats used their majority in Congress to promote their own spending agenda at the taxpayer ‘s expense.
“This is a waste of money, less than 9% goes to COVID. This is a reward for [House Speaker Nancy] Political friends of Pelosi, “McCarthy said during an interview with Fox & Friends.
Senator Bill Hagerty called the legislation “a Democrats’ wish list for socialist programs”.
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As reported by The Washington Post earlier this month, Democrats would have mounted a “11-hour push” in the past few days before relief legislation was passed to encourage President Biden to make combating child poverty a priority – resulting in creation of what the publication described as a $ 120 billion “sudden and unexpected” social program.
Republicans did not specifically criticize the law’s provisions on childcare, but instead tended to attack what they consider to be a superfluous expense.
The government is planning two more spending initiatives – an investment in infrastructure and a “people-centered” domestic policy push.
It is unclear how much the proposals would cost – a $ 3 trillion price has been released – but the White House has said it will raise taxes on wealthier families and businesses as a way to offset some of these expenses.