2024-03-11 21:03:23
It is unlikely to pass the House and Senate, but the proposal for 2025, an election year, is a model for what the future might hold if Mr. Biden and a number enough of his Democratic colleagues were elected next November.
The president and his aides previewed parts of his budget during last week’s State of the Union address, and they clarified the fine print on Monday.
If the Biden budget were adopted by Congress, deficits might be reduced by US$3,000 billion over a decade (C$4,044 billion).
This would increase tax revenues by a total of US$4,900 billion (C$6,605 billion) over this period and use approximately US$1,900 billion (C$2,561 billion) to finance various programs, with the remainder intended to reducing the deficit.
Mr. Biden’s aides said that budget was realistic and detailed, while competing Republican measures were not financially viable.
“The Republicans in Congress don’t tell you what they’re cutting, who they’re hurting,” said White House budget director Shalanda Young. “The president is transparent, detailing all the ways he shows he values the American people.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson, Republican of Louisiana, issued a joint statement with other GOP leaders, calling the Biden proposal “a stark reminder of this administration’s insatiable appetite for reckless spending.”
“Biden’s budget isn’t just off the mark: It’s a road map for accelerating America’s decline,” House Republican leaders said.
Under this proposal, the government would spend US$7.3 trillion (C$9.841 billion) over the next fiscal year and borrow US$1.8 trillion (C$2.426 billion) to fill the tax revenue gap. The 188-page plan covers a decade of spending, taxes and debt.
Parents might benefit from an increased child tax credit in 2025. Home buyers might benefit from a tax credit of up to US$10,000 (C$13,480) and a program down payment assistance of US$10 billion (C$13 billion) for first-time buyers. Corporate taxes would rise sharply, while billionaires would face a minimum tax of 25%.
President Biden said in his “State of the Union” that Medicare should have the ability to negotiate prices on 500 prescription drugs, which might save US$200 billion over 10 years (C$270 billion). .
The president was scheduled to travel to Manchester, New Hampshire, on Monday, where he will call on Congress to apply its US$2,000 (C$2,670) cap on drug costs to everyone, not just people on Medicare. and US$35 ($47 CAN) on insulin. He will also seek to make permanent some Affordable Care Act protections that expire next year.
Housing shortage
The Biden plan would provide regarding US$900 billion (C$1,213) for defense in fiscal 2025, regarding US$16 billion (C$22 billion) more than the baseline.
A key theme of this budget plan is the effort to help families meet their basic needs, as the impact of inflation — which reached a four-decade high in 2022 — continues to give many voters feel they are worse off under the Biden administration.
The budget proposal includes US$258 billion (C$348 billion) to build or preserve 2 million homes. Parents earning less than US$200,000 per year (C$269,600) would have access to child care, with most eligible families paying no more than US$10 per day (C$13).
All of these moves represent an opportunity for Mr. Biden to try to define the race on his preferred terms, just as the almost assured Republican nominee, Donald Trump, wants to rally voters around his own agenda.
“A fair tax system is how we invest in what makes this country great: health care, education, defense and much more,” Mr. Biden said Thursday during the State of The union. He added that his predecessor had adopted a US$2,000 billion (C$2,700 billion) tax cut in 2017, which disproportionately benefited the richest 1% of Americans.
Mr. Trump, for his part, would like to raise tariffs and extract masses of oil. He would like a “second phase” of tax cuts, as sections of his 2017 tax overhaul would expire following 2025. The Republican also said he would reduce government regulations and pledged to pay down the national debt, but it is unclear how he would do this without making significant spending cuts.
In an interview with CNBC on Monday, Trump indicated he would be willing to cut spending on Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, although he did not propose a comprehensive policy.
House Republicans voted Thursday in committee on their own budget resolution for the next fiscal year, saying it would reduce deficits by US$14 trillion over 10 years (C$19 trillion). But their measure would depend on optimistic economic forecasts and strong spending reductions, notably US$8.7 trillion (C$11.73 trillion) in Medicare and Medicaid. Mr. Biden has pledged to end any cuts to Medicare.
Meanwhile, Congress is still working on a budget for the current fiscal year. On Saturday, Mr. Biden signed into law a US$460 billion (C$620 billion) plan to avoid the closure of several federal agencies, but lawmakers are only regarding halfway through processing spending for this fiscal year .
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