United States: Joe Biden proposes a tax increase on billionaires and companies

US President Joe Biden this Thursday presented a draft budget that provides for a reduction of the deficit by 3 trillion over 10 years and tax billionaires and big corporations.

The White House said that Biden he wants a 25% tax on the few wealthiest Americanswhile the corporate tax would rise to 28%, undoing a huge tax cut enacted under the Donald Trump administration in 2017.

The White House has said Biden wants to 25% tax on the richest 0.01% of Americanswhile the corporate tax would rise from less than 10% to 28%, undoing a huge tax cut implemented under the Donald Trump administration in 2017.

This is to achieve a $3 trillion federal deficit cut over the next decade.

Republicans oppose it

Details released by the White House challenge Republicans as the president prepares to announce whether he’s running for re-election.

Needless to say, in Congress the Republicans in Congress it will block most of Biden’s proposals arguing that the solution to resolving the growing US debt involves cutting spending, not raising taxes.

Now, however, Republicans are under pressure to explain where they would cut costs. The Democrats, for their part, are trying to portray themselves as the party of ordinary Americans.

Biden’s plan will “invest in America, reduce costs and cut taxes for working families,” the White House said.

Biden also proposes raising taxes for top earners $400,000 annually to ensure Medicare’s solvencythe government-funded health insurance system for people over the age of 65.

According to the White House, raising the contribution to Medicare 3.8% to 5.0% of those wealthier individuals would ensure the viability of the program for more than two decades.

“My budget will ask the wealthy to pay their fair share so the millions of hardworking people who helped build that wealth can retire on the Medicare they paid for,” Biden tweeted Thursday.

Ukraine and defense spending

Also, ask Congress the approval of 6,000 million dollars for Ukraine and strengthen Washington’s alliance with NATO and its allies in Europe.

So it appears in the budget plan for fiscal year 2024 (October 1, 2023 to September 30, 2024) made public by the White House and that usually the beginning of the president’s negotiations with Congressthe body responsible for approving the financial statements.

According to the text, the goal of the 6,000 million is to help Ukraine and improve the military capabilities of the United States and its allies in the face of Russia’s “continued aggression”.

In addition to Ukraine, the budget includes various objects intended to contain China and strengthen US alliances in the Indo-Pacific.

In particular, it foresees 2.3 billion dollars earmarked for the State Department and the Agency for International Development (USAID) to strengthen US alliances in Asia and guarantee an “open” and “secure” Indo-Pacific, i.e. in which China’s influence is contained.

In addition, the government is asking for 6,000 million dollars to invest in economic development and infrastructure in several Asian countries.

The Defense portion of the budget contains a request to Congress to $9.1 billion in “key investments” whose nature is unspecified but whose goal is to demonstrate US commitment to its allies in Asia.

The defense and foreign policy sections of the budget also include funds to increase the number of Afghan refugees granted asylum in the United States and other items to defend democracy and fight cyberattacks.

In the text, Biden asks Congress to increase the funds allocated to the Department of Defense by 3.2%. it would have a total budget of $842,000 million.

He also calls for an 11% increase over last year for the State Department and other cooperation programs, which would have 70.5 billion dollars if Congress grants the president’s requests.

The budget presented this Thursday is only a starting point in negotiations between Biden and Congress, so it could undergo changes.