US Democrats Unveil Sweeping Social Safety Net Plan

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Democrats on Monday unveiled a sweeping $3.5 trillion social safety net proposal that would sharply expand the role of the national government in the lives of millions of Americans. 

The plan formally embraces many of the 2020 campaign promises of President Joe Biden, to give impoverished people a better shot at joining middle class American life. At the same time, it would expand government services across an array of existing and new programs.  It would provide universal free pre-kindergarten schooling for 3- and 4-year-old children and two years of free community college classes for high school graduates. For older Americans, the plan would boost federal spending for added health care benefits with first-time funding for dental, vision and hearing aid care.  The Democrats' plan, already being uniformly pilloried by Republican lawmakers as too costly and a vast overreach toward a socialist wish list of government largesse, also would invest new sums to fight climate change, change federal immigration laws and attempt to lower prescription drug prices. Some Democratic lawmakers have also voiced reservations about the massive cost of the proposal.