The President of the United States of America (USA) Joseph Biden announced today the budget proposal for the second term that he wants to win in the November elections, and the basis is a message to the voters themselves: tax breaks for families, lower expenditures for health care, higher taxes for the rich and corporations, smaller budget deficit.
Although the proposal for fiscal year 2025 has no chance of getting approval from the US Congress, where the Senate is held by Biden's Democrats and the House of Representatives is held by opposition Republicans, it gives voters an idea of what Biden can offer them if he manages to retain the presidency and the Democrats take control of both houses of the US legislature.
The president and his associates announced the budget proposal in general terms last week, and today the details were presented.
Parents would be granted an increase in the child estate tax credit, and payments would briefly return to 2021 levels - funded by Biden's coronavirus relief package.
Home buyers could receive a tax credit of up to $10.000, and first-time home buyers would receive $10 billion in down payment assistance.
It is also planned that corporate taxes will be increased, and billionaires would have to pay at least 25 percent of their income as taxes.
Biden said in a speech last week that the Medicare health program would have to be given the power to negotiate the prices of 500 prescription drugs, which would save an estimated $200 billion over the next 10 years. It was not specified which medicines would be the subject of such negotiations.
An important part of the budget plan is helping families to get basic necessities, given the record inflation that, starting in 2022, gives many voters the impression that they are economically worse off under Biden than before.
Thus, the budget proposal includes $258 billion to build or rehabilitate two million houses and apartments to reduce the housing shortage that keeps rents high.
Parents earning less than $200.000 a year would have access to state child care, and most families who would qualify for that assistance would spend no more than $10 a day.
Also included are student loan relief and $12 billion for universities to develop cost-cutting strategies.
According to the budget proposal, about 900 billion dollars are earmarked for defense. This includes aid to Ukraine, Israel and other US allies, as well as humanitarian aid to the Palestinians, funds for domestic augmentation of manpower and resources to better secure the US southern border, through which migrants enter from Mexico.
However, with all these allocations for defense, it is predicted to decrease in the next 10 years by 146 billion dollars - to the amount of 9,57 trillion dollars.
If Biden's budget becomes law, the deficit could be cut by three trillion dollars during this decade, tax revenues would be increased by $4,9 trillion during that time, and $1,9 trillion would be used for various programs. while the rest would go towards reducing the deficit.
Biden's assistants claim that the draft budget is realistic and detailed, and that the measures proposed by the opposition Republicans are not financially sustainable in case they win the elections.
The leading Republican presidential candidate, Donald Trump, would like to increase tariffs and pump out oil. He called for a "second phase" of tax cuts and said he would reduce the number of federal regulations and promised to pay down the national debt, although it is unclear how he would reduce government spending without it.
House Republicans on Thursday voted down their budget resolution for the next fiscal year and said it would reduce the deficit by $14 billion over 10 years. But their measure will depend on rosy economic forecasts and sharp spending cuts, cutting $8,7 trillion in Medicare and Medicaid health insurance spending. Biden has promised to stop any cuts to Medicare.
Congress is still working on the budget for the current fiscal year. On Saturday, Biden signed into law a $460 billion package to avoid defunding several federal services, but lawmakers are only halfway through spending this fiscal year.
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