Biden Throws Down 2024 Gauntlet With Populist Budget

Washington, March 9 (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 9th Mar, 2023 ) :President Joe Biden will present what amounts to his expected 2024 reelection pitch on Thursday with the unveiling of a proposed budget protecting free health care for the elderly, while taxing wealthy Americans to help slash the national deficit.

The Democrat's speech in Philadelphia will throw down the gauntlet to Republicans. They insist the priority is cutting the deficit without tax raises, but have yet to say what expenses they'd reduce instead.

That standoff is at the heart of a battle of ideas as the country slides toward both a potential crisis over servicing its national debt and the 2024 presidential campaign.

Biden has still not confirmed his reelection bid but the budget rollout is seen as one more step in the build-up to an announcement.

Because Congress, currently split between Democratic and Republican control, has power over Federal taxes and spending, the annual ritual of the White House budget unveiling is more a wish list or policy guide than anything else.

"A budget is a statement of values," Biden said on Twitter.

Main points already teased include a pledge Wednesday from the White House to cut the ballooning federal deficit by $3 trillion over the next decade, in part by raising taxes on the wealthy and corporations. Previously, Biden said he was aiming for a $2 trillion reduction.

At the heart of his proposals will also be a plan to raise taxes on those earning more than $400,000 a year to ensure that Medicare -- the government-funded health care system for people over 65 -- remains solvent.

Hiking the Medicare tax from 3.8 to 5 percent for those wealthy individuals would ensure the program's viability "beyond 2050 without cutting a penny in benefits," Biden said earlier this week.