https://www.washingtonpost.com/poli...1b846c-c173-11ea-b178-bb7b05b94af1_story.html
Joe Biden unveiled a proposal Thursday to spend $700 billion on American products and research, challenging President Trump’s “America First” agenda with a competing brand of economic nationalism and setting the stage for an election-year showdown over the country’s financial future.
The Biden campaign plan for manufacturing and innovation aims to bring back jobs lost this year and create at least 5 million more with sweeping investments in domestic technology; reduce dependence on foreign countries to supply critical goods; and implement trade and tax policies that empower U.S. workers.
“When we spend taxpayers’ money, when the federal government spends taxpayers’ money, we should use it to buy American products and support American jobs,” Biden said in a speech in Dunmore, Pa. The presumptive Democratic nominee spoke at a metal works plant, delivering the first major element of what his campaign says will be a four-part agenda to spearhead an economic recovery.
“Enough is enough,” said Biden. “It’s time to reverse the priorities in this country. It’s time to help small businesses, middle-class folks, manage their way through the pandemic.”
Trump has been arguing for months that the economy will regain its momentum when businesses, restaurants and other operations are allowed to reopen, and he has pushed for that to happen quickly despite the ongoing pandemic.
Biden’s announcement prompted frustration by some Trump allies that it was released before the president announced a similar “Buy American” proposal that has been held up for months amid internal objections, according to current and former officials. Stephen K. Bannon, a former chief Trump strategist, said the president’s team was “caught flat-footed.”
Biden’s pitch underscores a major shift by both major parties away from embracing globalization and free trade and toward protecting American workers and revitalizing struggling domestic industries. Those trends have been accelerated by the coronavirus pandemic, which has wreaked havoc on the economy.
Biden contrasts his coronavirus plan with Trump’s
Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden outlined his points for managing coronavirus if elected, and condemned Trump's response on June 30. (Blair Guild/The Washington Post)
“Biden does not accept the defeatist view that the forces of automation and globalization render us helpless to retain well-paid union jobs and create more of them here in America,” says a statement by the campaign detailing the plan.
The announcement suggests a recognition that support for Trump’s handling of the economy remains a bright spot for the president in his otherwise weak poll numbers. And it reflects the success of Trump’s longtime message that protecting American workers is more important than ensuring a free flow of trade.
Trump’s rise in 2016 was built heavily on promises of bringing back American jobs, as well as blaming immigrants for hurting American workers. As president, he has stoked a trade war with China and imposed tariffs that flew in the face of his party’s orthodoxy.
Biden, who once supported the North American Free Trade Agreement and Trans-Pacific Partnership, has focused his campaign on prioritizing American industries, following the lead of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), the democratic socialist who was his top rival for the Democratic nomination, and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) who released a “Plan For Economic Patriotism” during the primary and has undergone vetting by Biden’s campaign to be his running mate.
Biden and Warren’s teams consulted closely on the new plan, according to two people with knowledge of the situation, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe private talks.
Biden’s plan also reflects the growing alarm sparked by the coronavirus pandemic about the inability of American companies to produce enough medical supplies during a national emergency.
His new platform focuses heavily on using the power of the federal government to promote a U.S. domestic manufacturing base. He is advocating a $400 billion procurement initiative over four years to spur demand for American products and services, as well as a $300 billion investment in U.S. research and breakthrough technologies. Half of the $300 billion is in clean-energy initiatives that were previously announced, the campaign said.
Before Biden spoke, he toured the plant with Sen. Robert P. Casey Jr. (D-Pa.) and plant owner Robert McGregor. “How are you, man?” Biden asked a worker. “I keep distance,” the worker said. Biden wore a face mask throughout the tour.
Later, he delivered his remarks outside at a covered loading dock. Circles were placed in front of his lectern to encourage listeners to stay within them and maintain social distancing. Reporters had their temperatures taken and were asked coronavirus screening questions as they entered.
The plan, which represents one of Biden’s most detailed general election policy prescriptions, also calls for the government to launch a 100-day “supply chain review” that could require federal agencies to buy only medical supplies and other goods manufactured in the United States.
On the Republican side, White House advisers and allies worried about Biden’s “Buy America” push, with Bannon saying on his radio program that the Democrat’s rollout could help him in such states as Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, which Trump narrowly won in major 2016 upsets.
“This is very disturbing. . . . They are essentially trying to steal the Trump program of 2016 and steal that playbook. For some reason, the White House and the campaign have been caught flat-footed,” Bannon said. “Biden has very smart people around him, particularly on the economic side.”
Trump aides said the president remains the obvious person to reignite the economy as he has done before. “President Trump’s policies of lower taxes, deregulation, reciprocal trade and energy independence built a booming economy once, and they will do so again under his leadership,” said Judd Deere, a White House spokesman.
White House officials led by senior Trump adviser Peter Navarro have drafted an executive order requiring federal agencies to buy medical supplies and pharmaceuticals produced in America.
That executive order has languished for months, however, amid objections by some of Trump’s other senior advisers, including Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, who have warned that it could lead China to limit the supply of personal protective equipment, or PPE, that it is sending to the United States.
Some analysts said Navarro’s executive order could now be signed swiftly, but it remained unclear Thursday when or if that would happen.
Both campaigns are gearing up for a clash over the economy, a normally dominant theme in presidential elections. Trump argues that he built a booming economy before the coronavirus outbreak and could do it again. Biden blames Trump for his erratic reaction to the pandemic and frequent flouting of public health advice, which he says fueled the alarming rate of infections and badly damaged the economy as a result.
More broadly, Biden, who holds a significant lead in the polls, is seeking to close off any possible openings for Trump to make the race more competitive. In the months ahead, he plans to unveil proposals on infrastructure, caregiving and education, and racial equality, all part of what he bills as the “Build Back Better” plan.
Joe Biden unveiled a proposal Thursday to spend $700 billion on American products and research, challenging President Trump’s “America First” agenda with a competing brand of economic nationalism and setting the stage for an election-year showdown over the country’s financial future.
The Biden campaign plan for manufacturing and innovation aims to bring back jobs lost this year and create at least 5 million more with sweeping investments in domestic technology; reduce dependence on foreign countries to supply critical goods; and implement trade and tax policies that empower U.S. workers.
“When we spend taxpayers’ money, when the federal government spends taxpayers’ money, we should use it to buy American products and support American jobs,” Biden said in a speech in Dunmore, Pa. The presumptive Democratic nominee spoke at a metal works plant, delivering the first major element of what his campaign says will be a four-part agenda to spearhead an economic recovery.
“Enough is enough,” said Biden. “It’s time to reverse the priorities in this country. It’s time to help small businesses, middle-class folks, manage their way through the pandemic.”
Trump has been arguing for months that the economy will regain its momentum when businesses, restaurants and other operations are allowed to reopen, and he has pushed for that to happen quickly despite the ongoing pandemic.
Biden’s announcement prompted frustration by some Trump allies that it was released before the president announced a similar “Buy American” proposal that has been held up for months amid internal objections, according to current and former officials. Stephen K. Bannon, a former chief Trump strategist, said the president’s team was “caught flat-footed.”
Biden’s pitch underscores a major shift by both major parties away from embracing globalization and free trade and toward protecting American workers and revitalizing struggling domestic industries. Those trends have been accelerated by the coronavirus pandemic, which has wreaked havoc on the economy.
Biden contrasts his coronavirus plan with Trump’s
Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden outlined his points for managing coronavirus if elected, and condemned Trump's response on June 30. (Blair Guild/The Washington Post)
“Biden does not accept the defeatist view that the forces of automation and globalization render us helpless to retain well-paid union jobs and create more of them here in America,” says a statement by the campaign detailing the plan.
The announcement suggests a recognition that support for Trump’s handling of the economy remains a bright spot for the president in his otherwise weak poll numbers. And it reflects the success of Trump’s longtime message that protecting American workers is more important than ensuring a free flow of trade.
Trump’s rise in 2016 was built heavily on promises of bringing back American jobs, as well as blaming immigrants for hurting American workers. As president, he has stoked a trade war with China and imposed tariffs that flew in the face of his party’s orthodoxy.
Biden, who once supported the North American Free Trade Agreement and Trans-Pacific Partnership, has focused his campaign on prioritizing American industries, following the lead of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), the democratic socialist who was his top rival for the Democratic nomination, and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) who released a “Plan For Economic Patriotism” during the primary and has undergone vetting by Biden’s campaign to be his running mate.
Biden and Warren’s teams consulted closely on the new plan, according to two people with knowledge of the situation, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe private talks.
Biden’s plan also reflects the growing alarm sparked by the coronavirus pandemic about the inability of American companies to produce enough medical supplies during a national emergency.
His new platform focuses heavily on using the power of the federal government to promote a U.S. domestic manufacturing base. He is advocating a $400 billion procurement initiative over four years to spur demand for American products and services, as well as a $300 billion investment in U.S. research and breakthrough technologies. Half of the $300 billion is in clean-energy initiatives that were previously announced, the campaign said.
Before Biden spoke, he toured the plant with Sen. Robert P. Casey Jr. (D-Pa.) and plant owner Robert McGregor. “How are you, man?” Biden asked a worker. “I keep distance,” the worker said. Biden wore a face mask throughout the tour.
Later, he delivered his remarks outside at a covered loading dock. Circles were placed in front of his lectern to encourage listeners to stay within them and maintain social distancing. Reporters had their temperatures taken and were asked coronavirus screening questions as they entered.
The plan, which represents one of Biden’s most detailed general election policy prescriptions, also calls for the government to launch a 100-day “supply chain review” that could require federal agencies to buy only medical supplies and other goods manufactured in the United States.
On the Republican side, White House advisers and allies worried about Biden’s “Buy America” push, with Bannon saying on his radio program that the Democrat’s rollout could help him in such states as Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, which Trump narrowly won in major 2016 upsets.
“This is very disturbing. . . . They are essentially trying to steal the Trump program of 2016 and steal that playbook. For some reason, the White House and the campaign have been caught flat-footed,” Bannon said. “Biden has very smart people around him, particularly on the economic side.”
Trump aides said the president remains the obvious person to reignite the economy as he has done before. “President Trump’s policies of lower taxes, deregulation, reciprocal trade and energy independence built a booming economy once, and they will do so again under his leadership,” said Judd Deere, a White House spokesman.
White House officials led by senior Trump adviser Peter Navarro have drafted an executive order requiring federal agencies to buy medical supplies and pharmaceuticals produced in America.
That executive order has languished for months, however, amid objections by some of Trump’s other senior advisers, including Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, who have warned that it could lead China to limit the supply of personal protective equipment, or PPE, that it is sending to the United States.
Some analysts said Navarro’s executive order could now be signed swiftly, but it remained unclear Thursday when or if that would happen.
Both campaigns are gearing up for a clash over the economy, a normally dominant theme in presidential elections. Trump argues that he built a booming economy before the coronavirus outbreak and could do it again. Biden blames Trump for his erratic reaction to the pandemic and frequent flouting of public health advice, which he says fueled the alarming rate of infections and badly damaged the economy as a result.
More broadly, Biden, who holds a significant lead in the polls, is seeking to close off any possible openings for Trump to make the race more competitive. In the months ahead, he plans to unveil proposals on infrastructure, caregiving and education, and racial equality, all part of what he bills as the “Build Back Better” plan.
