President Joe Biden and Congress’ top two Democrats strategized Friday about how to give a fresh impetus their massive domestic legislation. The party continued to scale back the measure as it tried to break deadlocks which have held it hostage for months.

Biden shared breakfast with Nancy Pelosi, House Speaker of the House, and Chuck Schumer, Senate Majority Leader from New York joined in a Zoom call. They have been working together with progressives and party moderates to reduce the $3.5 trillion 10-year-old measure to about $2 trillion.

Democrats have set an informal goal to reach an agreement among moderates and progressives on a plan outline by the end this week. Leaders hope that a broad compromise could be reached on the price tag and the basic components of the measure, which would lay the foundation for final agreements on detailed legislation.

Democrats are seeking to reach an agreement on the legislation before Biden leaves for Europe in late next week.

These changes are made as Biden appeals more strongly to the American public, in particular Thursday’s televised townhall, for what he calls the middle-class values that lie at the core of his proposal.

Biden spoke at the evening event about the difficulties he has in getting the opposing factions within the Democratic party to agree on the final contours. He cannot afford to lose one vote in an evenly divided Senate. And he must navigate the competing demands of progressives who want large investments in social services and centrists who want to lower the price tag for the package.

“When you are president of the United States, there are 50 Democrats. Every one of them is a president. Each and every one. He said that it was up to you to make things work out.

He expressed optimism and said “I believe so” when asked whether Democrats were close to reaching a deal.

It’s all about compromise. He said that compromise has become a dirty word but that bipartisanship and compromise are still possible.

Biden later stated that the discussions have been reduced to “four or five issues.”

Biden was met with resistance by key holdouts, including Sen. Kyrsten Silena (D-Ariz.), who is not onboard with her party’s plan to repeal President Donald Trump’s tax breaks that benefit big corporations and individuals making more than $400,000 per year.

Thursday night was unusually open with the president about the sticking points in negotiations with Sinema, and another key Democrat Sen. Joe Manchin from West Virginia.

Although Sinema said that Sinema would not raise taxes on corporations or the wealthy, a White House official clarified later that the president was talking about raising top tax rates and not the range of tax proposals which Senator Sinema supports.

Biden stated that Manchin does not want to rush the transition to clean energies so it will cause major job losses in his state of coal-producing.

Biden admitted that there were significant changes to his original vision, even though he appeared encouraged by the progress. Although he acknowledged that the final plan would not provide community college for free, he said a few things to make up the difference.

He said, “It’s certainly not going to get the whole thing. But it is a beginning.”

He stated that the federally-paid, long-term family leave program had been reduced to just four weeks from what was originally planned.

Biden and his party seek to strengthen middle-class households, combat climate change, and stop the trend towards rising income inequality.

The mix includes at least $500 billion to combat climate change, $350 million for child care subsidies, free prekindergarten, and a one year extension of the $300 monthly child credit that was established during the COVID-19 crises. There is also money for healthcare provided by the Affordable Care Act (aka Medicare).

However, the new tax provisions are likely to upset progressives and some moderate Democrats. They have long campaigned for the repeal of the Republican-backed 2017 tax cut that many believe unduly rewards the wealthy and costs the government enormous amounts in lost revenue during a time when there is a widening income gap. Many are angry that a single senator could hinder this goal.

Rep. Richard Neal (D-Mass.), the chairman of the Ways & Means Committee for tax-writing, stated that he spoke with Senator Arizona’s centrist senator for over 30 minutes. Her closely held views remain a mystery to her colleagues.

“I said Kyrsten that you and I know this must come to an end. Neal stated to reporters at Capitol that she said, “I couldn’t disagree more.”

Sinema’s office didn’t respond to my request for comment.

The corporate tax rate under the 2017 law is currently 21%. Democrats proposed increasing it to 26.5% for businesses earning more than $5million a year. For those with incomes greater than $400,000 or $450,000 for married couples, the top individual income tax rate would rise from 37% to 39.6%.

The corporate rate would not be affected by the proposed changes. However, the changes would not be beneficial for large companies or the wealthy.

The White House has revived the idea of a minimum corporate rate similar to the 15% Biden proposed earlier this year. This applies even to companies with no taxable income, which is a common target for Biden who complains that they pay “zero” taxes.

The Senate Finance Committee chairman, Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), would model the new tax on the richest individuals on legislation. He proposed taxing stock gains for people who have more than $1B in assets — less than 1000 Americans.

Biden and his party seek to strengthen middle-class households, combat climate change, and stop the trend towards rising income inequality.

The mix includes at least $500 billion to combat climate change, $350 million for child care subsidies, free prekindergarten, and a one year extension of the $300 monthly child credit that was established during the COVID-19 crises. There is also money for health care through the Affordable Care Act (aka Medicare).

I-Vt. Senator Bernie Sanders has proposed that Democrats add funding for Medicare beneficiaries to cover hearing, vision, and dental care.