Biden to step up attack on Trump's economic policies in Pennsylvania
speech
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[October 23, 2019]
By Trevor Hunnicutt
SCRANTON, Pa. (Reuters) - Democratic U.S.
presidential contender Joe Biden plans to tout his economic policy
credentials and double down on his attacks on President Donald Trump in
a speech on Wednesday in the electoral battleground state of
Pennsylvania.
Biden, who faces a two-front war against the largest Democratic field in
history as well as Trump, will speak in Scranton, the Rust Belt town
where he grew up, about "the middle class values that guide his vision,"
his campaign said. The speech is scheduled for 10 a.m. (1400 GMT).
Biden, a leading contender in the Democratic race to take on Trump in
the November 2020 election, recommitted to raising the U.S. minimum wage
to $15 an hour from the current $7.25, according to a statement released
on Tuesday.
"Donald Trump has had everything given to him and spent his entire life
and presidency enriching himself," said Biden. "As president, Trump has
not only cut taxes for the wealthiest Americans and corporations, but he
has made it more difficult for low-income and middle class workers to
get what they've earned."
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2019/Oct/23/images/ads/current/christian_village_sda_031616.png)
Biden told donors at a fundraiser in Exeter, Pennsylvania, on Tuesday
night that “instead of spending money on these ridiculous tax cuts for
the super wealthy,” America could invest in curing cancer or Alzheimer’s
disease.
“Yet again Joe shows not just how out of touch he is with the American
middle-class, but with reality,” Trump campaign spokeswoman Erin Perrine
said in a statement. “Under the Trump Administration workers are
thriving, unemployment has hit record lows, wages are rising and all
while taxes have been cut across the board - benefiting ALL Americans.”
SLEW OF DEMOCRATIC PROPOSALS
Biden has spent much of the past several weeks attacking Trump for his
foreign policy and the president's allegations, offered without
evidence, about the foreign business dealings of Biden's son Hunter.
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![](../images/102319PIX/news_u37.jpg)
Democratic 2020 U.S. presidential candidate and former Vice
President Joe Biden speaks at a campaign town hall meeting in
Manchester, New Hampshire, U.S., October 9, 2019. REUTERS/Mary
Schwalm
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His focus is now turning to an economic record that Trump has
touted, including unemployment rates that have fallen to
multi-decade lows. Biden's attack comes as U.S. economic growth
slows, raising fears of a recession as the benefits of a 2017 tax
cut fade and tariffs imposed on Chinese imports hurt American
farmers and manufacturers.
Democrats have unveiled a slew of economic proposals meant to invest
in future generations and reverse wealth and income inequality.
Their most aggressive policies include universal income guarantees
and imposing federal taxes on wealth, not just income.
Biden has sounded a similar tone on inequality - saying regularly in
campaign events that "it's time to reward work, not just wealth" -
but has stopped short of supporting many of the more dramatic
proposals in the Democratic field.
He has also criticized his opponents, including U.S. Senator
Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders of
Vermont, for not being specific about how they would implement the
wealth tax they support or pay for their other proposals, including
a Medicare for All plan based on the government-run health insurance
program for Americans 65 and older.
But Biden has yet to release his own full economic plan. He has said
he would pay for a $750 billion investment in higher education by
raising some inheritance taxes and limiting the tax credits
available to higher-income workers.
He has also said he would pay for an expansion of healthcare
benefits by increasing taxes on high-income earners' investment
profits and raising the marginal tax rate on the highest earners
back to 39.6% from 37%, to which it was lowered under the
Republicans' 2017 tax bill.
(Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt; Editing by James Oliphant and Peter
Cooney)
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