President Biden came into office vowing to tackle climate change, a problem he labeled an “existential threat” to civilization. He intended to arrive at COP26 with his domestic climate package in place. However, a battle with some of his Democratic Senators has questioned his authority and re-election odds. Since Biden was elected, his popularity has declined from a high of 53% to 43% – a drop of 10% in 10 months. Discover the issues facing the current US president and get the latest odds on him winning the 2024 presidential election.
$3.5 Trillion, A Cost Too High
President Biden’s latest battle is to convince Republican and Democrat Senators to vote for his Build Back Better stimulus package. The bill aims to bring life back into the economy after the pandemic lockdown. It looks at what could be done for the economy and how the lives of the American people could be improved. The package would change policies around taxes, the climate crisis, health care, child care, housing, and immigration. When president Biden introduced his stimulus package, it was valued at $3.5 trillion, but after fierce opposition from both sides of the House, it was reduced to $1.75 trillion. The debates on the package could affect the odds for Biden’s re-election at online sportsbooks.
Tax Rises, A Vote Loser
There were considerable concerns about the original $3.5 trillion package. Many Republican and Democratic politicians thought the injection of such a large sum into the economy would cause massive inflationary pressures. Others like the Democrat Kyrsten Sinema questioned how it would be paid for, and objected to increasing taxes to fully finance the trillion-dollar plan.
The Plan For The Climate
The budget for the green economy and climate spending within the stimulus package equates to $555 billion, making it the most generous clean-energy budget in American history. The fundamental change in Biden’s approach to tackling the climate crisis is to offer tax credits and incentives to all the American people and American industry instead of restricting carbon emissions. Incentives would be given for installing solar panels, improving housing insulation efficiency, and switching to electric vehicles. The original $3.5 trillion stimulus package aims for more drastic changes to cut emissions faster. Biden plans to reward electric producers for switching to renewable energy sources and fine those that continue with fossil fuels. Still, again opposition is being led from his own side by Joe Manchin.
The Democratic Dissenter
Joe Manchin is the senator of West Virginia, a state rich in coal that employs almost 14,000 miners directly. He has a substantial interest in his son’s coal brokerage company, currently worth $1m. Manchin has received more political donations from the oil, electricity utilities, and gas industry than any other senator.
The Midterm Elections
Many see Manchin as a narrow-minded politician who is incapable of seeing beyond local concerns. Still, he might have a broader outlook than just protecting the coal and energy sector. West Virginia is a conservative state that supports Donald Trump and has voted for him twice in presidential elections. The Democrats only have a majority of one seat in the Senate, and with the Midterms approaching fast, they need every single Seat to maintain control. Perhaps Manchin’s strategy to fight his own Democratic Party and appear more like a Republican will appeal to his voters come the Midterms.
With his Build Back Better plan in place, Joe Biden intends to take to the world stage and play a leading role in the COP26 climate summit. The reality is that Biden left for Glasgow with his bill still being debated. He has already dropped many of the popular campaign promises to progress this far. His re-election chances look increasingly precarious, as does the Democrats’ control of both Houses in the Midterm elections.
View the latest odds for the next US presidential election.
Philip Carlson is a gambling industry analyst based in NYC. He covers political global political betting markets and sports-betting for Vegas-odds.com
