Biden called for new spending initiatives to lower costs for health care, child care and housing and new taxes on the wealthy and major corporations to offset those proposals.
Too bad he won't do anything. At most he'll say he's "looking into it" and hope people eventually stop asking.
Like, you've been president for four years Joe, half that time Dems had the House and Senate... Did you just realize this was something that needs addressed?
But at least he's actually saying the right stuff now instead of ranting about "illegals"
The answer is: Nothing. The president (or even the executive branch) has no power over tax laws whatsoever. That's 100% Congress. The president can only sign into law or veto what Congress sends them. Aside from Executive Orders (which are still subject to judicial review), all the president can do is call for things.
And he is only calling for it now because it wouldn't have made sense to do it any earlier. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (better known as the Trump Tax Cuts for the Wealthy), became effective in 2018 and is the law until 2025 when they're due to be renewed or replaced. Biden took office in 2021 and the current year is 2024.
instead of ranting about "illegals"
The "ranting about illegals" statement is completley disingenuous and quite literally spreading right-wing propaganda.
From the official transcript of the damn speech (or rant as you're calling it):
REPRESENTATIVE GREENE: What about Laken Riley?
(Cross-talk.)
AUDIENCE: Booo —
REPRESENTATIVE GREENE: Say her name!
THE PRESIDENT: (The President holds up a pin reading “Say Her Name, Laken Riley.”) Lanken — Lanken (Laken) Riley, an innocent young woman who was killed.
REPRESENTATIVE GREENE: By an illegal!
THE PRESIDENT: By an illegal. That’s right. But how many of thousands of people are being killed by legals?
That's it. That's the "rant". Basically trapped into responding to Empty G's heckling, fell into it, and now it's a right-wing talking point.
Tax reform has to be implemented by Congress. All he can do is call for it. And good luck with that out of the current Congress. The only chance of that happening is if Dems get the House back and get a bigger/actual majority in the Senate.
An actual majority in both houses plus the President's signature is all it takes to actually change tax rates for the wealthy — you can do it under reconciliation. The problem for Democrats is that there have long been a few who are bought off, so it takes more than a bare majority to do it.
The problem for Democrats is that there have long been a few who are bought off, so it takes more than a bare majority to do it.
Exactly why it's important to get out and vote blue.
Are they perfect? Absolutely not. And Manchin/Sinema did some heavy lifting in disenfranchising voters to think the Dems are useless.
But when 95% of the party is in line, but fails to get the majority because of two assholes, the answer isn't to abandon the party, it's to vote more in so that the two assholes don't have the ability to derail the train by themselves.
At lleast, when the alternative is to hand the keys over to a party actively trying to destroy the country for their own selfish gain. And they aren't even being subtle about it.
I'm not a fan of Biden either, but he's going to get my vote this presidential election due to their being no alternative.
There are more elections than just the presidential one that you should be voting in. Vote in all of your local ones and state level ones. The more progressive people that we can push through the chain the more stuff we can get passed that will help people and the more likely we are to get a more progressive president in the future.
The more progressive people that we can push through the chain
Never going to happen. Establishment Democrats will sabotage their efforts because there is literally zero repercussions for doing so. They fuck us over and then people like you insist we have to vote for them anyway.
My district recently flipped blue, that was due to people voting and pushing for better people.
Without voting all we do is secure sliding further and further down.
Change doesn't happen overnight and there's no such thing as a perfect candidate.
And if you're not happy with the candidates that are running in your local area, try to get involved and get yourself on the ballot. You might just start yourself a political career.
Remember Hanlon's Razor: Don't suspect malice when incompetence can explain it.
And not the incompetence of the DNC. They're just responding to the environment. The American people don't want progressive ideas. A third of them want shinier, more inclusive Office Space, another third want segregation and mass deportation, and the final third don't vote for a bunch of reasons but mostly because the only options are those two.