Biden to propose federal budget cutting deficit by $3tn over a decade

theguardian.com:

With the US government at risk of defaulting, Joe Biden will on Thursday propose a federal budget that would cut deficits by nearly $3tn over the next decade.

The president is attempting to call out House Republicans who are demanding severe cuts to federal spending in return for lifting the government borrowing limit. The GOP has no counter offer so far, other than a flat “no” to a Biden budget plan that could form the policy spine of the president’s campaign for re-election in 2024.

“We see this as a value statement,” the White House press secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre, told reporters on Wednesday. “This is something that shows the American people that we take this very seriously when we think about the fiscal responsibility, when we think about how do we move forward.”

Biden will unveil his plan in a battleground state, Pennsylvania. The president wants to impose tax hikes on the wealthy to limit federal borrowing, including a reversal of 2017 tax cuts made by Donald Trump on people earning above $400,000. Added revenues would help improve Medicare, the government health insurance program for adults over 65, the White House says.

Biden has also floated a new tax on incomes above $100m that would target billionaires and called for lower prescription drug prices. Tax companies pay on stock buybacks would be quadrupled, and those earning above $400,000 would pay an additional Medicare tax to help to keep the program solvent beyond 2050.

Biden would also seek to close the “carried interest” loophole that allows hedge fund managers and others to pay taxes at a lower rate, and prevent billionaires from being able to set aside large amounts in tax-favored retirement accounts, according to an administration official. The plan also