Washington 8th August : After an entire year of negotiations and impasses, as well as tactics in Washington, the US Senate has approved an economic plan, which is a top priority for Democrats and would inject hundreds of billions of dollars into clean energy initiatives and increase taxes on corporations, and cut health cost of health care.On Sunday night the Senate approved the measure 50-50 on party lines , and Vice President Kamala Harris cast the tie-breaking vote to send the bill to the House which plans to come back for a short period following the August’s recess in order to discuss the issue on Friday, according to DPA news agency.
Democrats employed the budget reconciliation process to avoid the requirement for 60 votes to end the way for a Republican filibuster.
However, even an easy majority vote needed the unanimity in the Democratic caucus, something they were unable to attain until this month.
Before the final approval the Senate was able to spend over 15 hours deliberating on amendments , dilatory motions, and other motions in the free-for-all procedure known as “vote-a-rama”.
There was 37 votes in all of 37 votes on the way to final approval.
A formal Congressional Budget Office “score” was not yet available.
Based on preliminary data and estimates from the past the bill would cost over $450 billion in 10 years on climate and energy programs and tax breaks, an extension of three years of the more generous subsidy to purchase health insurance on exchanges for public health and the expansion of Medicare prescription drug benefits, and caps on monthly copays for insulin.
The package will be more than offset by tax increases for corporations, increased IRS tax enforcement Medicare savings by allowing price talks directly with pharmaceutical companies over certain drugs, and the introduction of new fees and taxes for petroleum and gas firms.
On the whole this package will be expected reduce deficits by about $300 billion over the course of a decade.
The president Joe Biden, who has declared the bill “historic” He has also promised to bring the US to the international arena regarding climate change action.
In April of last year he committed to cutting US greenhouse gas emissions by at minimum 50 percent by 2030.
In the last month, he announced $2.2 billion to build infrastructure that is able to stand up to extreme weather conditions and natural catastrophes.
