WATERLOO – Following weeks of anticipation, President Joe Biden will present a budget plan on Thursday, serving as the first shot in what is anticipated to be months of a heated discussion with congressional Republicans about the state of the nation’s finances.
Biden is anticipated to suggest additional spending and taxes while also outlining strategies for cutting the deficit by around $3 trillion over the following ten years.
While the leaders of federal departments hold their customary press briefings to explain their portions of the budget, Biden is visiting Philadelphia in a more campaign-like manner to advance his proposal.
The president has been attempting to contrast himself with the GOP as he gears up for an anticipated re-election campaign. To prevent a default on the country’s current debts, congressional Republicans are pressing to close the deficit. Yet, they haven’t presented their budget strategy.
Demonstrate what you value to the American people, Biden tweeted on Wednesday.
Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, a Republican from California, can find common ground, but “it won’t be more taxes,” McCarthy said.
The GOP budget has not yet been released
Republicans will reveal their budget “as soon as we can get it done,” McCarthy said on Wednesday.
“We’d like to review the president’s budget… and after that, we’ll start working on our budget,” he told the media.
The House Budget Committee proposed possible spending reductions last month, including work requirements for food stamp recipients, significant cuts to the Environmental Protection Agency, a ban on “woke waste,” the cancellation of unapplied COVID-19 rescue funds, a reduction in Obamacare subsidies, and the suspension of Biden’s plan to forgive student loan debt.
Republicans want to “preserve and strengthen” Social Security and Medicare, but their framework didn’t specify how.
Philly will hear Biden’s financial plan
Biden is visiting a union hall in Philadelphia to talk about his budget, underscoring the part Democrats believe their disagreement with Republicans on the economy will play in the upcoming election.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said, “It’s an opportunity for the president to address directly to the American people.
Biden has frequently chosen Philadelphia, a city in a crucial election state, for significant political occasions, such as the launch of his 2020 presidential campaign and a speech in front of millions of people on the future of democracy.
Biden will suggest cutting the deficit by over $3 trillion
The White House announced on Wednesday that it has discovered a means to close the almost $3 trillion gap between taxes and spending after proposing a plan to decrease the deficit by at least $2 trillion over the following ten years.
The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates that to “roughly stabilize” the increase of the federal debt, deficits would need to be lowered by $5 trillion over ten years. If nothing changes, the debt will surpass the size of the GDP by 2033 and reach historic heights.
Tax increases will be included in Biden’s budget
Biden gave a sneak peek at two tax increases that are anticipated in his budget plan: a minimum income tax on millionaires and billionaires, as well as a quadrupling of the new tax on corporate stock buybacks.
Also, Biden wants to limit the tax advantages of retirement plans for individuals making more than $400,000 and increase taxes on carried interest income for private equity managers. To keep Medicare solvent, he would also increase taxes on upper earners’ earned and unearned income.
He has declared that he will uphold his pledge not to raise taxes on Americans in the middle class.
Biden targets the oil industry and pharmaceutical firms
To raise money, Biden is pursuing “Big Pharma” and “Big Oil” in addition to additional taxes on the wealthy.
The White House estimates that eliminating tax incentives for the oil and gas industry would save $31 billion, as Biden has previously suggested.
Biden also wants to increase the government’s capacity to reduce the cost of prescription medications for people on Medicare and Medicaid. The pharmaceutical industry vehemently opposed more modest provisions to accomplish that included in legislation passed last year. Manufacturers of pharmaceuticals claim the changes will hinder their capacity to create new drugs.
The Biden budget will deal with Medicare and Social Security
A major goal of the budget plan, according to the White House, is to protect Social Security and Medicare. According to the White House, Biden’s proposals to increase Medicare revenues and make adjustments to the prescription drug program would keep Medicare’s hospital insurance fund solvent for at least two more decades.
Before Thursday, Biden remained mum on how he would strengthen Social Security’s finances, which could prevent it from paying out the entire payout by 2032.
The debt limit battle includes a budget component
Every year, the president submits a budget request to Congress for the upcoming fiscal year, but this year’s proposal comes at a time when Biden and Republicans are at odds over how the government will be able to pay its current obligations. The government might go into default on its obligations this summer, which would be catastrophic for the economy unless Congress increases the country’s borrowing ceiling.
Republicans in the House claim they won’t increase the debt ceiling until Vice President Biden agrees to significant expenditure cuts. To prevent spooking the economy during what may be a protected funding battle, Biden insists that the topics shouldn’t be connected.
Biden tweeted
This week, I’ll show Americans my full-budget vision to invest in America, lower costs for families, and grow the economy without raising taxes on anyone making under $400,000.
I urge my Republican friends in Congress to do the same.
Show the American people what you value.
