President Joe Biden unveiled a budget proposal on Monday that purportedly seeks to gradually reduce the national deficit by raising taxes while still spending on welfare programs and aid to Ukraine and Israel.
Some lawmakers were quick to signal their opposition to the proposal.
“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. Biden’s budget doesn’t just miss the mark — it is a roadmap to accelerate America’s decline,” reads a joint statement by House Speaker Mike Johnson (R–LA) and other Republican members of the House.
Inflation has been a leading issue for voters across the country, according to reporting by The Dallas Express, as prices for basic necessities such as groceries continue to climb. DX reported that grocery prices have increased by 25% since 2020, significantly outpacing inflation and especially impacting Americans who live paycheck to paycheck but do not qualify for welfare.
Biden’s budget proposal totals $7.3 trillion and includes tax increases on corporations and some of America’s top earners.
“We have a thousand billionaires in America,” Biden said at a press conference on Monday. “You know what their average tax rate is? 8.2% taxes. Anyone want to trade?”
Biden claimed that enacting a tax code update requiring a 25% tax on billionaires would generate $400 billion per year.
“Imagine what we could do — from cutting the deficit to providing for child care, to providing healthcare, to continue to provide our military with all they need,” Biden said.
His budget proposal also includes massive taxpayer spending on Ukraine and Israel while also funding border security. The proposal includes about $4.7 billion to fund border operations, according to reporting by NBC News.
“The President’s Budget, in combination with the Senate’s bipartisan border security legislation, is vital to meeting the needs of our workforce and the challenges we face,” impeached Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas said in a statement. “The President’s budget prioritizes staying ahead of the diverse and complex threats facing the homeland and highlights our unwavering dedication to protecting the security of the American people.”
Mayorkas was impeached by the House over his handling of the unlawful migration crisis at the southern border. Some 6.3 million “migrant encounters” have been documented at the border in the first three years of Biden’s term, according to data from the Office of Homeland Security Statistics.
