HIGHLIGHTS FROM JOE BIDEN’S VISION FOR AMERICA
“I’m a practicing Catholic. I believe faith is a gift. And the first obligation we all have is, ‘Love your God,’ the second one is, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ … ‘Treat people with dignity.’ Everyone’s entitled to dignity, that’s a basic tenet in my household.” – Vice President Joe Biden
Vice President Joe Biden believes that in America, no matter where you start in life, everyone should be able to live up to their God-given potential. He knows that we need to rebuild the middle class, and this time make sure everybody comes along—regardless of race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, or disability.
Build an economy where everyone comes along and we protect the “least of these”: Joe is running for President to rebuild the backbone of America—the middle class—and this time to make sure everyone comes along. Joe knows that the middle class isn’t a number—it’s a set of values. Owning your home. Sending your kids to college. Being able to save and get ahead. Across the country, for too many families that’s out of reach. The next president needs to understand what the current one doesn’t: In America, no matter where you start in life, there should be no limit to what you can achieve. Toward this end, Joe will increase the federal minimum wage to $15. He will triple Title I funding to eliminate the funding gap between high- and low-income school districts as well as invest in community colleges and training to improve student success and grow a stronger, more prosperous, and more inclusive middle class. He will pay for these investments in working Americans by making sure the super-wealthy and corporations pay their fair share. His first step will be reversing President Trump’s tax cuts for the super-wealthy and corporations. Joe will also eliminate special tax breaks that reward special interests and get rid of the capital gains loophole for multi-millionaires.
Respect the dignity of work and give workers back the power to earn what they’re worth: The American middle class built this country. Yet today, CEOs and Wall Street are putting profits over workers, plain and simple. It’s wrong. There used to be a basic bargain in this country that when you work hard, you were able to share in the prosperity your work helped create. It’s time to restore the dignity of work and give workers back the power to earn what they’re worth. Joe will start by strengthening unions and helping workers bargain successfully for what they deserve. His plan will check the abuse of corporate power over labor and hold corporate executives personally accountable for violations of labor laws. He will also encourage and incentivize unionization and collective bargaining. And importantly, he will ensure that workers are treated with dignity and receive the pay, benefits, and workplace protections they deserve. That means standing up against wage suppression through non-compete clauses, and stopping companies from classifying low wage workers as managers in order to avoid paying them the overtime they’ve earned. Finally, working- and middle-class Americans deserve to retire with dignity, so Joe will put Social Security on a path to long-run solvency, protect widows and widowers from steep Social Security benefit cuts, provide a higher Social Security benefit for the oldest Americans, and protect and strengthen Medicare and ensure its beneficiaries can access home and community long-term care when they want it.
Ensure that affordable, quality health care is a right for all Americans: Joe knows there’s no peace of mind if you cannot afford to care for a sick child or family member because of a pre-existing condition, because you’ve reached a cap on your health insurance coverage, or because you have to make a decision between putting food on the table or going to the doctor. He will expand coverage and lower health care costs by protecting and building upon Obamacare. This includes giving Americans a public health insurance option, increasing the value of tax credits to lower premiums, and expanding coverage to low-income Americans. He will also put a stop to runaway drug prices and the profiteering of the drug industry.
Pursue a humane immigration policy that keeps families together, strengthens our economy, and secures our border: As vice president, Joe backed comprehensive immigration reform, and the Obama-Biden Administration took historic steps to create the DACA program so DREAMers could pursue their lives free from fear of deportation. Joe also led the administration’s work with Central America—securing $750 million to boost prosperity and security in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras, easing the root causes of migration. As president, Joe will prioritize a comprehensive immigration reform to finally give 11 million undocumented immigrants a roadmap to citizenship. He’ll invest in smart technology at our ports of entry and streamline the asylum system, hiring more immigration judges. He’ll ensure those seeking refuge in the United States are treated with dignity and get the fair hearing they’re legally entitled to. Moreover, a Biden Administration will extend TPS to Venezuelans seeking relief from humanitarian crisis, and will immediately review and overturn every TPS decision made by the Trump Administration that does not appropriately consider the facts on the ground.
Serve as stewards of our creation and protect our planet against climate change: In his encyclical, Laudato Si, Pope Francis directed the global community to raise awareness about the growing climate change crisis. Climate change threatens communities across the country, from beachfront coastal towns to rural farms in the heartland. Joe’s plan will tackle climate change and pollution to protect our communities. He will ensure that communities harmed by climate change and pollution, particularly communities of color and low-income communities, are the first to benefit from his clean economy revolution. He will push the United States to achieve a 100 percent clean energy economy and reaches net zero emissions no later than 2050. Joe’s plan will create 10 million good-paying jobs in the United States, hold polluters accountable, and push other countries to go further on their climate action commitments. He will work to ensure that every American has access to clean drinking water, clean air, and an environment free from pollutants. And, every dollar spent towards rebuilding infrastructure will be used to prevent, reduce, and withstand a changing climate.
