What’s so bad about Build Back Better?

Dear Republicans, center-right Democrats and Donald Trump voters: Would you please tell me exactly what parts of President Joe Biden’s Build Back Better program you’re against so that we can then have a discussion? Is it the tuition payments for community college for all? Is it university pre-kindergarten for all 3and 4-year-olds? Child care for working parents?

Might it be the expansion of Medicare to cover vision, hearing and dental for seniors like myself ? The expanded child tax credit for poor and lower middle class families? Is this about cutting prescription drug prices? Addressing man-made climate change by incentivizing clean energy sources, electric vehicles and a move away from fossil fuel?

Or is it about paid family and medical leave?

The $3.5 trillion cost is spread over 10 years, which amounts to $350 billion a year or less than half of the U.S. Defense Department’s yearly budget. To pay for it, the bill Includes modest raises on taxes on corporations and the wealthiest Americans (“Democrats seek corporate, wealthy tax hikes for Biden’s $3.5T plan,” Sept. 13). Those modest raises over 10 years would return at least $2 trillion toward the cost.

I understand why Sen. Joe Manchin is so vehemently opposed. His family’s fortune is almost entirely in natural gas and coal, so addressing climate change might hit him hard. But what about the rest of you? What are you against? Let’s talk about it.