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Here’s Where Biden Would Have Broken With Clinton

4 minute read

When he announced he would not run for the Democratic presidential nomination Wednesday, Vice President Joe Biden outlined a hypothetical campaign platform that would have fallen to the left of frontrunner Hillary Clinton on three key issues.

In brief remarks from the Rose Garden, he outlined proposals to raise taxes on the wealthy, increase the child-care tax credit and make college free.

“While I will not be a candidate, I will not be silent,” Biden said. “I intend to speak out clearly and forcefully, to influence as much as I can where we stand as a party and where we need to go as a nation.”

Biden’s words were forceful, if not entirely clear, and show how he might have peeled votes away from Clinton if he had run.

Like the former Secretary of State, Biden argued that the middle class is being squeezed by rising inequality, calling for the wealthy to pay more in taxes to help pay for government programs that would address the problem.

“Wealthy folks will end up paying a little bit more, but it’s my guess, and I mean this sincerely, it’s my guess they’ll be happy to build a stronger economy and a better-educated America,” he said.

Biden’s proposal: Limit deductions on federal income tax to 28 percent of income. Although he did not elaborate on the pitch, it sounds similar to one included in President Obama’s proposed budget for the 2013 fiscal year, which was not adopted by Congress. The Administration estimated that the proposal, which would affect married couples with a joint income of more than $250,000, would raise more than $584 billion over a decade.

By contrast, Clinton has said she would raise short-term capital gains tax rates and spoken vaguely about the wealthy paying their fair share. Biden’s proposal is more specific than what Clinton has proposed and would have set a progressive benchmark for her campaign.

In his remarks, Biden proposed using the money that would raise to pay for tripling the child-care tax credit, an idea put forward by President Obama earlier this year. Under that proposal, families could get a tax credit of up to $3,000 for each child under the age of 5.

Read More: Read Joe Biden’s Speech About Not Running for President

“Child care is the one biggest barrier for working families,” Biden said. “We need, as the president proposed, to triple the child-care tax credit. That alone will lead to a dramatic increase in the number of women able to be in the workforce. And will raise our economic standards.”

Clinton has not announced a plan for raising the child-care tax credit, although a think tank with close ties to her campaign, the Center for American Progress, has proposed a child-care tax credit worth up to $14,000 per child.

Finally, Biden called for making college free, although he did not explain exactly what he meant by that.

“We need to commit to 16 years of free public education for all our children,” he said. “We all know that 12 years of public education is not enough. As a nation, let’s make the same commitment to a college education today that we made to a high school education a hundred years ago.”

By comparison, Clinton has called for debt-free college at public universities, but not tuition-free college, as Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders has proposed. Clinton’s plan would involve grants to states to slow the growth of tuition and allow students to refinance their loans.

Those were not the only issues Biden raised, but they were the most specific proposals he put forward. He also called in general terms for protecting LGBT rights, avoiding large-scale military operations, passing immigration reform and guaranteeing equal pay for women—all issues on which there is little disagreement among the Democratic field.

His only other specific proposal was to spend more money on health research to end cancer. Although neither Clinton or Sanders has spoken on the topic, it’s unlikely that they would have drawn a distinction with Biden on it if he had run.

Read Next: Joe Biden Says He Won’t Run for President in 2016

See Joe Biden’s Career in Pictures

Joe Biden Yearbook Photo
Joe Biden in 1965 at the University of Delaware.University of Delaware
Biden And Family 1972
Senator Joe Biden carries both of his sons, Joseph R. III (left) and Robert H. (right) during an appearance at the Democratic state convention in 1972. At center is his first wife Neilia.AP—AP
Jimmy Carter, Joseph Biden Jr,
Jimmy Carter and Joe Biden at a fund raising reception in Wilmington, Del., on Feb. 20, 1978.AP
Biden And Family 1985
Joe Biden takes a mock oath of office from George H. W. Bush, accompanied by his family in Capitol Hill in Washington on Jan. 3, 1985. Lana Harris—AP
Biden Campaign Begins 1987
Joe Biden and his family, including his second wife Jill (far left), after announcing his candidacy for president in Wilmington, Del., on June 9, 1987.George Widman—AP
Biden with Kennedy and Thurmond
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Joe Biden (center) reads from his tally sheet following the committee's voice vote to recommend Robert H. Bork for the Supreme Court on Oct. 6, 1987 in Washington. Senator Strom Thurmond (left) and Senator Edward Kennedy (right) listen.John Duricka—AP
Bill clinton air force one bosnia
Bill Clinton (center) aboard Air Force One en route to Bosnia, with Madeline Albright (middle right), Joe Biden (far right), Bob Dole (left), Elizabeth Dole (far left) and Ted Stevens on Dec. 22, 1997.D. Delaware—Office of Senator Joe Biden
Joe Biden Kabul 2002
Joe Biden visits the old Soviet Embassy compound in Kabul on Jan. 11, 2002.Enric Marti—AP
Senator John Kerry, Senator Ben Nelson, Senator Joseph Biden, Senator Christopher Dodd, seated, and Senator Barack Obama.
Democratic members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee gather on Jan. 19, 2005, in Capitol Hill, Washington, DC.Dennis Cook—AP
Mike Gravel, Christopher Dodd, John Edwards, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, Bill Richardson, Joe Biden, Dennis Kucinich
Democratic presidential hopefuls, from left: former Senator Mike Gravel, Senator Christopher Dodd, former Senator John Edwards, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, Senator Barack Obama, New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, Senator Joe Biden, and Representative Dennis Kucinich stand together before the start of the debate sponsored by CNN, YouTube and Google at The Citadel military college in Charleston, S.C., on July 23, 2007.Charles Dharapak—AP
Joe Biden
Joe Biden walks after accepting his party's nomination as their vice presidential candidate at the Democratic National Convention in Denver, Col., on Aug. 27, 2008.Stephan Savoia—AP
USA - 2008 Presidential Election - Barack Obama Elected Prsident
Barack Obama, Michelle Obama, Joe Biden and Jill Biden celebrate after Obama's victory speech at the election night rally in Chicago, on Nov. 04, 2008.Brooks Kraft—Corbis
USA - Politics - Vice President Joe Biden
U.S. Vice President Joe Biden attends a Recovery Act Implementation Cabinet meeting in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House campus in Washington, on June 25, 2009.Brooks Kraft—Corbis
US Vice President Joe Biden (L) arrives
U.S. Vice President Joe Biden visits an Afghan National Army training center in Kabul on Jan. 11, 2011.Shah Marai—AFP/Getty Images
President Obama Announces Death of Osama Bin Laden
U.S. President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and members of the national security team receive an update on the mission against Osama bin Laden in the Situation Room of the White House on May 1, 2011, in Washington.The White House/Getty Images
The Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, NC
Joe Biden speaks at the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, N.C., on Sept. 06, 2012.Brooks Kraft—Corbis
Obama/Biden Camp Election Day Coverage
Vice President Joe Biden during an election night rally in Chicago, on Nov. 7, 2012.Daniel Acker—Bloomberg/Getty Images
President Obama Signs The Violence Against Women Act
U.S. President Barack Obama (center), joined by (left to right) Vice President Joseph Biden, trafficking survivor Tysheena Rhames, House Minority Leader Representative Nancy Pelosi, Senator Michael Crapo, Senator Patrick Leahy, House Minority Whip Rep. Steny Hoyer, Representative Gwen Moore, and Director of Public Policy of Casa de Esperanza Rosemary Hidalgo-McCabe, signs the Violence Against Women Act into law at the Department of the Interior March 7, 2013 in Washington. The law expanded protections for victims of domestic violence, sexual assault and trafficking. Alex Wong—Getty Images
Pope Francis Addresses Joint Meeting Of U.S. Congress
Pope Francis waves to the crowd from the US Capitol building with Vice President Joe Biden, Kevin McCarthy and John Boehner on Sept. 24, 2015 in Washington. Evy Mages—Getty Images
U.S.-WASHINGTON D.C.-CHINA-XI JINPING-ARRIVAL
China's President Xi Jinping and his wife Peng Liyuan are welcomed by Vice President Joe Biden and his wife at Andrews Air Force Base in Washington on Sept. 24, 2015.Huang Jingwen—Xinhua/Getty Images

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