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Biden takes pitch for spending plans on the road, holds Georgia rally

Joe Biden
Joe Biden
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President Joe Biden, one day after addressing a joint session of Congress, headed to Georgia to rally support for his $4 trillion spending proposals for infrastructure and families. Thursday’s event also marks 100 days in office for Biden.

His appearance in Georgia was to help rally support for his American Jobs Plan and American Families Plan in a state he won by fewer than 12,000 votes in November.

"Health care should be a right, not a privilege," Biden told the crowd at the drive-in rally Thursday night.

He talked about both plans, calling them a “blue collar blueprint” for change to move the country forward. The proposals would invest in roads, transit, education and family leave.

At Thursday's event, Biden talked about being a single dad after his wife and daughter were killed in an accident. "I couldn't afford child care," he told the crowd, and had family members who helped him out.

Top-line items from the plans include providing preschool for every three- and four-year-old child, making 2 years of community college free, and offering 12 weeks of maternity/paternity time off for new parents or other medical situations.

Biden has said he wants to pay for the plans by having wealthy Americans and corporations "pay their fair share." He has suggested increasing taxes on those making more than $400,000 and on corporations.

"If we increase the corporate tax rate to 15%," Biden told the crowd Thursday, "we could raise $230 billion."

Watch the rally below.

Earlier in the day, while in Georgia, Biden and first lady Dr. Jill Biden visited the home of former president Jimmy Carter. Both couples are vaccinated against the coronavirus and met in person inside Carter’s home south of Atlanta.

After Georgia, Biden is heading to events in Pennsylvania and Virginia in the next several days.