“We should be putting our money and our effort and our time in preparing American workers to compete in the 21st Century on the high-tech side, dealing with artificial intelligence. We should be focusing on equipping American workers to do that.”
Joe Biden Jr. is an American politician who served as the 47th vice president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. Biden also represented Delaware in the U.S. Senate from 1973 to 2009. A member of the Democratic Party, Biden is a candidate for president in the 2020 election, having unsuccessfully sought the Democratic presidential nomination in 1988 and in 2008.
Biden was raised in Scranton, Pennsylvania and New Castle County, Delaware. He studied at the University of Delaware before receiving his law degree from Syracuse University. He became a lawyer in 1969 and was elected to the New Castle County Council in 1970. He was first elected to the U.S. Senate from Delaware in 1972, when he became the sixth-youngest senator in American history.
Biden’s Policies, Plans & Commitments in Her Own Words:
Healthcare
Biden has promised to take the following actions to address Americans’ concerns about affordable healthcare coverage, access to care, prescription drug costs and improvement of the current system.
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) was a big deal for communities of color. It expanded health coverage to millions, reduced costs, and improved the quality of health care.
As president, I will protect the ACA from continued attacks to get rid of this landmark law – whether from Republicans and Democrats. Instead of starting from scratch and getting rid of private insurance, I have a plan to build on the ACA by giving Americans more choice, reducing health care costs, and making our health care system less complex to navigate.
I will give Americans a new choice to purchase a public health insurance option like Medicare, increase the value of tax credits to lower premiums and extend coverage to more working Americans, and expand coverage to low-income Americans by expanding Medicaid to states that have refused to do so.
I will stand up to the abuse of power by prescription drug companies, by repealing the outrageous exception allowing drug corporations to avoid negotiating with Medicare over drug prices and by limiting launch prices for drugs that face no competition and are being abusively priced by manufacturers. I will limit price increases for all brand, biotech, and abusively priced generic drugs to inflation. I will allow consumers to buy prescription drugs from other countries as long as the Department of Health and Human Services has certified that those drugs are safe. Finally, I will terminate pharmaceutical corporations’ tax break for advertisement spending and improve the supply of quality generics.
Economy
Biden said he would take the following steps to close the racial wealth gap and the pay gap for women and promote economic security for middle- and low-income Americans.
My vision for America is based on a middle class where everyone—regardless of race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, or disability—comes along. I will increase the federal minimum wage to $15; ensure federal dollars do not flow to employers engaging in union-busting activities or wage theft; stop employers from denying overtime pay; and eliminate non-compete clauses and no-poaching agreements that hinder employees’ ability to seek higher wages by changing jobs. I will provide a federal guarantee for public sector employees to bargain for better pay, benefits, and working conditions. I will support legislation, like the Domestic Workers’ Bill of Rights, that expands federal protections to domestic workers, ensuring they have the right to basic workplace protections.
I will support the ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment—as I have for over 45 years—and I will build on the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, the first bill the Obama-Biden Administration signed into law, with the Paycheck Fairness Act.
Homeownership is how many families save and build wealth. I will end redlining and other discriminatory and unfair practices in the housing market by protecting homeowners and renters from abusive lenders and landlords, eliminate local and state housing regulations that perpetuate discrimination, hold financial institutions accountable for discriminatory practices, restore the federal government’s power to enforce settlements against discriminatory lenders, and tackle racial bias that leads homes in communities of color being assessed by appraisers below their fair value.
Criminal Justice Reform/Gun Violence/Judiciary
Biden would address criminal justice reforms, including over-policing, sentencing reforms and help with full and productive reentry into society by pursuing the following policies.
I have called for the immediate passage of Congressman Bobby Scott’s SAFE Justice Act. In addition, I will create a $20 billion competitive grant program, inspired by a Brennan Center proposal, to spur states to focus on prevention and reducing incarcerated populations.
I will expand the Justice Department’s use of pattern-or-practice investigations and consent decrees to address unlawful policing. I will invest in public defenders’ offices to ensure access to quality counsel, eliminate mandatory minimums, and end the federal crack and powder cocaine sentencing disparities. I will decriminalize the use of cannabis and automatically expunge all prior cannabis use convictions, end incarceration for drug use alone and instead divert individuals to drug courts and treatment, and expand other effective alternatives to detention. I will reform bail and decriminalize poverty. I will stop corporations from profiteering off of incarceration. And, I will provide for the unique needs of incarcerated women and ensure humane prison conditions.
I will set a goal of ensuring 100% of formerly incarcerated individuals have housing upon reentry and expand access to mental health and substance-use disorder treatment, as well as educational opportunities and job training during and after incarceration. I will eliminate existing barriers (such as disenfranchisement, preventing access to SNAP, Pell grants, and housing support) preventing formerly incarcerated individuals from fully participating in society. I will expand on the Obama-Biden Administration’s “ban the box” policy by encouraging further adoption of these policies at the state and local level.
Education
Biden proposes to improve pre-K through 12 education and post-secondary education opportunities (including apprenticeships and trade training) through the following actions.
I will triple Title I funding, which goes to schools serving a high number of children from low-income families. This funding will first be used to ensure teachers at Title I schools are paid competitively, three- and four-year olds have access to pre-school, and districts provide the same access to rigorous coursework across all their schools. I will double the number of mental health professionals in our schools so our kids get the mental health care they need. And, I will fully fund the federal government’s obligation for the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.
I will build the best, most innovative schools in the country in low-income communities and communities of color and expand the community school model. I will invest in our children at birth by providing high-quality, universal pre-kindergarten for all three- and four-year-olds and by expanding home visiting. I will include in federal infrastructure legislation funding specifically for improving public school buildings.
I will provide two years of community college or other high-quality training program without debt for any hard-working individual looking to learn and/or improve their skills to keep up with the changing nature of work. I will help tackle the barriers, such as child care, textbooks and transportation costs, that prevent students from completing their community college degrees or training credentials. I will make a $50 billion investment in workforce training, including community college/business partnerships and apprenticeships. And, I will fund new apprenticeship readiness programs in construction that are connected to registered apprenticeships.