President Joe Biden unveiled plans for government spending and higher taxes on the wealthy.
President Biden is using the release of his $6.8 trillion budget for the fiscal year 2024 to challenge House Republicans to produce their own tax and spending blueprint without cutting Medicare or Social Security.
Biden’s plan amounts to the clearest distillation of his political priorities as he prepares to mount a re-election campaign by running against congressional Republicans.
But the plan has little chance of being enacted by Congress.
Speaking at a Philadelphia union hall, Biden challenged Republican opponents on fiscal responsibility, highlighting plans to cut U.S. deficits by nearly $3 trillion over 10 years by raising taxes on those earning more than $400,000 a year.
Biden has sought to frame his budget as a serious effort to rein in deficits, claiming that he will reduce overall deficit spending by $3 trillion over the next decade.
He hopes to achieve that goal with a new billionaire tax, forcing them to pay at least 25 percent of all of their income, including appreciated assets, in taxes.
Overall, the budget would increase federal spending in the twelve months starting in October to $6.8 trillion from the $6.2 trillion expected to be spent in the current fiscal year.
Biden is proposing $885 billion in overall defense spending to help fund the war against Russia in Ukraine and bolster the Pentagon’s procurement budget.
For domestic programs, a traditional top priority for Democrats, he’s asking for even more, proposing some $1 trillion for so-called non-defense discretionary spending.
To achieve his spending priorities, which include shoring up Medicare and protecting Social Security, Biden relies on deficit spending and envisions a shortfall of $1.8 trillion next year.
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