Biden calls for investment in education during Illinois visit

(The Center Square) – President Joe Biden visited McHenry County on Wednesday to talk about the American Rescue Plan Act and his Build Back Better agenda.Biden spoke in front of a crowd in the McHenry County College gymnasium in Crystal Lake. The county of McHenry was primarily Republican during the 2020 Presidential Election with Donald Trump winning 50 percent of the total county vote.Biden discussed the American Rescue Plan. Biden’s first major piece of legislation was designed to help American families and small businesses. The plan provides stimulus checks of $1,400 for American citizens and sets aside billions of dollars for education and small businesses.The President addressed critics of his American Rescue Plan who said that the plan could not work.“When we passed the American Rescue Act there were a lot of naysayers,” Biden said. “The doubters said it would not work, well we have created over 3 billion jobs since I’ve taken office.”One of the main points of Biden’s speech was a plan to rebuild America by investing in the American public, particularly in education.“To truly win the 21st century and once again lead the world, to truly build the economy from the bottom up we need to invest in our people,” Biden said.Biden said most American families will not be taxed any extra money in his plan. Republican Illinois Sen. Craig Wilcox disagreed with that statement.“For the President to say he has it all squared away and that it’s all free, I don’t think Americans are that naive to believe that their government is going to just hand out stuff for free.”Biden proposed higher taxes on the wealthy and corporations to pay for his Build Back Better agenda.Wilcox said even if it is free, it will have an impact on the economy by driving up inflation.“That’s going to drive inflation,” Wilcox said. “Inflation is the hidden tax on every American, we have seen the price of gas we have seen the price of lumber and groceries increase and that’s already eating into middle-class income.”Biden became the first sitting president to visit McHenry County, a county that voted for Donald Trump in the 2020 Presidential Election. The President ended his mid-west trip in Illinois and is now heading back to Washington D.C., a White House spokeswoman said

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