Proposal adds new taxes on wealthy
GOP critical of $7.3T plan that calls for corporations, highest earners to pay more
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden on Monday proposed a $7.3 trillion budget packed with tax increases on corporations and high earners, new spending on social programs and a wide range of efforts to combat high consumer costs like housing and college tuition.
The proposal includes only relatively small changes from the budget plan Biden submitted last year, which went nowhere in Congress, though it reiterates his call for lawmakers to spend about $100 billion to strengthen border security and deliver aid to Israel and Ukraine.
Most of the new spending and tax increases included in the fiscal year 2025 budget stand almost no chance of becoming law this year, given that Republicans control the House and roundly oppose Biden’s economic agenda. Last week, House Republicans passed a budget proposal outlining their priorities, which are far afield from what Democrats have called for.
Instead, the document will serve as a draft of Biden’s policy platform as he seeks reelection in November, along with a series of contrasts intended to draw a distinction with his presumptive Republican opponent, former President Donald Trump.
Biden has sought to reclaim strength on economic issues with voters who have given him low marks amid elevated inflation. This budget aims to portray him as a champion of increased government aid for workers, parents, manufacturers, retirees and students, as well as the fight against climate change.
Speaking in New Hampshire on Monday, Biden heralded the budget as a way to raise revenue to pay for his priorities by raising taxes on the wealthiest Americans and big corporations.
“I’m not anti-corporation,” he said. “I’m a capitalist, man. Make all the money you want. Just begin to pay your fair share in taxes.”
The budget proposes about $5 trillion in new taxes on corporations and the wealthy over a decade.
Administration officials said Monday those increases would be split equally between corporations and the nation’s highest earners, while Americans earning less than $400,000 a year would enjoy tax cuts totaling $750 billion under their plans.
The president has already begun trying to portray Trump as the opposite: a supporter of further tax cuts for the well-off. “Do you really think the wealthy and big corporations need another $2 trillion tax break?,” Biden asked in New Hampshire, referencing Trump — but not by name. “Because that’s what he wants to do.”
Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and other members of the House Republican leadership criticized Biden in a statement released Monday. “The price tag of President Biden’s proposed budget is yet another glaring reminder of this administration’s insatiable appetite for reckless spending and the Democrats’ disregard for fiscal responsibility,” the statement said.
Polls have found Americans are dissatisfied with Biden’s handling of the economy and favor Trump’s approach to economic issues. But the president has been unwavering in his core economic policy strategy.
Biden’s budget also proposes about $3 trillion in new measures to reduce the federal deficit over the next decade.