JOE’S PLAN: HIT RICH & BIG BIZ FOR MORE TAXES

GOP pushed on spending proposal, still signal they may hold up OK on debt ceiling in exchange for cuts

Biden proposed just last month.

The extra cash will mostly come from tax hikes on the very wealthy, including a reversal of the 2017 tax cuts made by former President Donald Trump on people earning above $400,000. The added revenues would help fund Medicare, the government health insurance program for senior citizens, for decades.

He also has floated a new tax on incomes above $100 million that he says would ensure no billionaire pays less tax than working people.

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell have both previously demanded deep cuts in what they call wasteful spending and opposed tax increases as part of a vague goal to eventually balance the budget.

McCarthy has also demanded talks on spending cuts in exchange for raising the debt ceiling, a once-routine process that right-wing GOP lawmakers now want to use as a bargaining chip in the annual budget fight.

Economists from across the political spectrum warn that the global economy could be disastrously harmed by even the threat of failing to raise the debt limit, which allows the government to pay for measures both parties have already passed in years past.

Most Republicans refuse to consider to raise taxes or cut defense or Social Security and Medicare spending, making their stated goals near impossible to implement.

The Republican-held House is responsible for passing an initial spending plan, but McCarthy has yet to propose anything.

Trump has trashed any cuts to Medicare or Social Security.

But Republican presidential rival Nikki Haley has called for discussing raising eligibility ages and changing benefit rules. She also opposes the Biden tax hikes on the wealthy.

Democrats scoff at the idea that deeply divided GOP lawmakers can agree on anything more than opposing whatever Biden proposes.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer expressed skepticism in a Monday speech that McCarthy has any coherent plan that House Republicans can coalesce around.

“Enough with the dodging, enough with the excuses,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said this week on the Senate floor. “Show us your plan. And then show us how it’s going to get 218 votes on your side of the aisle.”