Former President Barack Obama said President Joe Biden’s “Build Back Better” agenda, hinging now on a $3.5 trillion rebuilding proposal being fought over in Congress, is something the United States “desperately needs.”
In an interview with ABC’s Good Morning America, Obama made the case for his former vice president’s economic recovery plan. In particular, he voiced support for higher taxes on the wealthy to prop up government-funded childcare and infrastructure reinforcement against climate change.
“I think anybody who pretends that it’s a hardship for billionaires to pay a little bit more in taxes so that a single mom gets childcare support or so that we can make sure that our communities aren’t inundated by wildfires and floods and that we’re doing something about climate change for the next generation — you know, that’s an argument that is unsustainable,” Obama said in the interview, set to air on Tuesday.
Obama said it makes the most sense for wealthy people “to pay a few percentage points more in taxes in order to make sure that we have an economy that’s fair for everybody.”
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The 44th president also emphasized the plan covers 10 years of spending and is an investment for the future.
“You’re looking at making our infrastructure function more efficiently. … You’re talking about rebuilding a lot of buildings, roads, bridges, ports so that they are fortified against climate change,” he said. “And also, that we start investing in the kinds of energy efficiency that’s going to be required to battle climate change.”
