Biden’s $6 trillion budget proposal calls for surge in domestic spending, higher taxes

Washington: President Joe Biden is proposing a $6 trillion budget next year that would greatly ramp up domestic spending and raise taxes on corporations and the wealthiest Americans.

Presidential budgets are crafted chiefly to be messaging documents, outlining priorities and making recommendations that Congress may take into consideration when drafting appropriation bills.

Biden’s first full budget recommendation includes sweeping new proposals he has already introduced, including trillions on infrastructurefree pre-K and community college, and increases to a range of domestic programs aimed at boosting public health and programs for the poor, reports NBC News.

As Biden outlined on the campaign trail and as president, he would pay for the spending increases by raising taxes on corporations and the country’s highest earners. But even with higher taxes, his proposed budget would run a $1.8 trillion deficit in 2022. Officials reiterated that he would not impose new taxes on individuals making below $400,000.

 

“The Budget invests directly in the American people and will strengthen our Nation’s economy and improve our long-run fiscal health,” Biden said in a letter to Congress accompanying the proposal. “It reforms our broken tax code to reward work instead of wealth, while also fully paying for the American Jobs Plan and the American Families Plan over 15 years. It will help us build a recovery that is broad-based, inclusive, sustained, and strong.”

On a call with reporters, White House officials said the proposal, if enacted, would contribute to a speedy jobs recovery, arguing unemployment would fall to 4.7 percent by the end of 2021.

Republican criticism of the administration has hinged heavily on warnings that the United States may face surging inflation as a result of stimulus funds pumped into the economy during the pandemic.

The White House has largely dismissed inflation warnings.

White House officials portrayed the budget as a front-loaded spending plan designed to take advantage of low interest rates with major investments in areas such as infrastructure, climate, education and scientific research now, and reduce deficits later on via higher taxes.

But for Republicans, the budget will provide ammunition to their case that Biden is a tax-and-spend Democrat who doesn’t care about debts and deficits.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, the top Republican on the Senate Budget Committee, declared Biden’s budget “dead on arrival — just like all other presidential budgets.”

“It is insanely expensive. It dramatically increases nondefense spending and taxes,” Graham, of South Carolina, said in a statement. “There will be serious discussions about government funding. But the Biden budget isn’t serious and it won’t be a part of those discussions.”

White House press secretary Jen Psaki defended the budget, saying Biden inherited a deficit from the Trump administration and that the spending is needed to help the economy recover from the Covid-19 pandemic.

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