Biden launches opening salvo in debt ceiling fight against GOP with budget release
Although President Joe Biden’s budget is a lofty document that has no chance of clearing the GOP-controlled House, it is also political as he prepares for a bitter fight against Republicans over the debt limit before next year’s elections.
Biden plans to use this opening argument against Republicans before the real battle over the debt ceiling begins.
Biden, who repeatedly stated that budgets underpin values, will announce his fiscal 2020 framework in Pennsylvania on Thursday. This event was overshadowed somewhat by the imminent debt ceiling.
Biden pledged to not negotiate with Republicans about raising the debt ceiling to $31.4 trillion. He claimed that the country’s credit rating was too important to default. According to former consultant Christopher Hahn, Democrats like Biden should “hold firm” on that strategy, despite the possibility of a deadline and far-reaching economic implications.
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Biden, who repeatedly stated that budgets underpin values, will announce his fiscal 2020 framework in Pennsylvania on Thursday. This event was overshadowed somewhat by the imminent debt ceiling.
Biden pledged to not negotiate with Republicans about raising the debt ceiling to $31.4 trillion. He claimed that the country’s credit rating was too important to default. According to former consultant Christopher Hahn, Democrats like Biden should “hold firm” on that strategy, despite the possibility of a deadline and far-reaching economic implications.
Senator Joe Manchin (D.W.Va.) has voiced his disapproval of Biden’s strategy and called on his fellow senators to “stop the madness” and “start acting reasonable and responsibly to get the government’s finances in order.” Manchin met with Kevin McCarthy (R.CA) in January to discuss raising the debt ceiling. A few weeks later, the president met with McCarthy at the White House.
Manchin stated last week that there are always times for disagreements and arguments. “But the looming crisis of debt cannot. It can’t have the same disruption as us and the political toxic atmosphere and discourse that we have. For the sake of our great nation, we have to work together.”
Biden may be announcing, but so are Republicans. One of the House Republican Study Committee’s priorities was to reduce fiscal 2024 discretionary expenditure to $1.5 trillion. In addition, a discretionary spending limit for up to 10 year has been established. The House Budget Committee will then respond to Biden on April 15.
Biden’s budget previews show how it will reduce the federal debt by $3 trillion over a ten-year period. Biden also outlined his plans for Medicare. The president wants to extend Medicare’s Hospital Insurance Trust Fund by at least 25 years. He proposes increasing Medicare’s tax rate for those earning over $400,000 from 3.8% – 5%, and redirecting $200B in savings made by the Inflation Reduction Act prescription drug negotiation provisions to Hospital Insurance Trust Fund. Additionally, he is expected to request $835 billion in defense spending as well as a 5.2% pay increase for federal employees.
Bipartisan Policy Center Senior Vice-President Bill Hoagland, an expert on budgets, praised Biden’s efforts to reduce deficits, but said that it was not going to lower the debt to [gross Domestic Product] by a substantial amount.
He stated that “just to stabilize the debt to GDP level at the current point, I think they should well into the $6-$8 trillion mark,”
Hoagland said that Biden’s Medicare taxes were “pretty much dead upon arrival with a Republican Congress.” Instead the veteran Senate Republican staffer advocated for a wider simplification of tax code and efforts to reduce Medicare’s growth rate. Hoagland believes that non-defense discretionary spending must be cut by 15% to 20% if the president has a discretionary total of $1.7 trillion in order to meet Republicans’ demand for $1.5 trillion.
He added, “I’m concerned about this.” “You have to negotiate, you have to reach some kind of compromise. Republicans will be able to claim they have made some savings and can move forward if there is a cap placed on discretionary spending.
Biden has been pushing the White House to emphasize the budget and traveled to Pennsylvania to present it. This is a crucial battleground state for both the Senate and presidential elections. Karine Jean-Pierre, Biden’s press secretary, argued that Biden prefers to present his agenda in a transparent manner.
Jean-Pierre spoke of Obamacare, the Affordable Care Act.
She continued, “That’s exactly what they’re saying that they want to move forward with.” “And the president is saying, “You know what? I will continue to fight for the American people. I will continue to fight for taxpayers who have contributed to these programs from the time they began their first job, some as teenagers. ‘”
