Biden's budget plan challenges GOP

PHILADELPHIA — US President Joe Biden unveiled plans on Thursday for government spending and higher taxes on the wealthy, choosing the swing state of Pennsylvania to reveal his playbook for an expected 2024 reelection bid.

Speaking at a Philadelphia union hall, Biden challenged Republican opponents on fiscal responsibility, highlighting plans to cut deficits of nearly $3 trillion over 10 years by raising taxes on those earning more than $400,000 a year.

Overall, the budget would increase federal spending in the 12 months starting in October to $6.8 trillion from the $6.2 trillion expected to be spent in the current fiscal year.

Biden's budget proposal faces stiff opposition from Republican lawmakers emboldened by winning control of the House of Representatives in November's midterm elections. Biden's package of tax and spending priorities is unlikely to pass the GOP-run House or the Senate, where Democrats hold a slim edge, as proposed.

The plan is a political statement that directly challenges Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy's threats to block an increase in the $31.4 trillion limit on federal borrowing unless Biden agrees to rein in federal spending.

McCarthy and other Republicans on Thursday described Biden's budget plan as "reckless".

Biden seeks to fund higher spending and narrow the deficit by imposing a 25 percent minimum tax on billionaires and nearly doubling capital gains tax from 20 percent, the White House said.

Total US debt would rise to nearly 110 percent of annual GDP in 2033, a figure that rivals the peaks during the country's mobilization for World War II.

The administration based its budget on a muted, 0.6 percent inflation-adjusted growth forecast for the current calendar year.

Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget advocacy group, said the budget did not go nearly far enough to rein in dangerous debt levels.

"When it comes to fixing the debt, this is by no means an award-winning budget, but the president deserves at least a participation trophy," she said in a statement.

Under Biden's budget proposal, the Pentagon's spending would surge to $842 billion in fiscal 2024, a $26 billion or 3.2-percent increase from the 2023 enacted level.

The United States has been heavily criticized for hefty spending on military activities. The National Defense Authorization Act for the fiscal year 2023 allocated nearly $817 billion to the Pentagon.

Andrew Lautz, director of federal policy for the National Taxpayers Union and National Taxpayers Union Foundation, wrote on Thursday that the NTUF is skeptical of the 2024 Biden defense budget request, and believes that "all taxpayers should be too".

Hundreds of people attended a protest rally in Washington last month. "The United States is playing way too much on the military," said Scholz-Karabakakis, a protester from Vermont, while accusing Washington of "expanding outward to the borders" of other countries and "creating anxiety, fear around the world".

Agencies—Xinhua