(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden is expected to spend a large part of Thursday’s State of the Union address in Washington, D.C. addressing the economy as he renews his calls for increased taxes on corporations and billionaires, eliminating student debt and highlighting the economic rebound the U.S. has had since he became president.
Biden is also expected to tout other aspects of the economic recovery such as adding nearly 15 million jobs, rising wages, an unemployment rate below 4% for the past two years and an inflation rate that is steadily dropping.
“We were in the midst of a raging pandemic. Tens of millions of Americans were unemployed, hundreds of thousands of small businesses were at risk of closing and supply chains were badly broken,” National Economic Advisor Lael Brainard said on a call previewing the SOTU.
The president is also expected to highlight his administration’s efforts to crackdown on “junk fees” across a number of sectors — from air travel, to concerts, banks, credit cards and health care and call out companies for “shrinkflation.”
Biden will also push his plans to change the tax system by repeating his call to raise the corporate minimum tax to 28% and propose a 25% minimum tax for billionaires. He will argue that the GOP plan would add more than $3 trillion to deficits over 10 years if they make the Trump tax cuts permanent, while providing tax cuts for those making over $4.5 million.
Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
