In a statement released Monday, the White House said Biden would ask Congress to increase defense spending by $ 69 billion next fiscal year, to a total of $ 773 billion. Of this, $ 6.9 billion will be allocated specifically to support Ukraine and “strengthen the capabilities and readiness” of the NATO alliance in the region. Additional funding will also be provided to strengthen US “deterrence” in the Indo-Pacific region. In a statement issued Monday, Biden praised the broader defense proposal as “one of the largest investments in our national security in history, with the funds needed to ensure that our military remains the best prepared, best trained, best equipped.” army in the world “. The budget included a minimal tax on investment income of wealthier Americans as well as restrictions on stock purchases by top executives. It highlights how the Biden government has been forced to prioritize national security, even as it seeks to advance the rest of its economic agenda, with high inflation remaining its biggest political vulnerability in the run-up to the November midterm elections. In the economic forecasts that accompany the proposal, the White House said that the consumer price index will decline from the high rate of four decades of 7.9% to 4.7% by the end of this year, before falling to half to 2, 3% in 2023. During this period, no significant decline in growth or employment is forecast, with the White House suggesting that the economy will continue to expand at a healthy pace. The unemployment rate is expected to fall to 3.6 percent in 2023 before returning to its current level of 3.8 percent. The White House argues that the proposed spending increases will not exacerbate the inflation boom. Instead, he argues, the changes could actually help ease price pressures that have become more pervasive throughout the economy and are in danger of consolidating. “It fights inflation and helps families cope with rising costs by growing our economy, making more goods in America and reducing the cost to families,” Biden said in a letter to Congress accompanying the draft budget. “Her bold ideas are being paid for in full, with tax reforms that have more than offset the cost of new investments.” The White House budget seeks to resurrect initiatives at the heart of its massive social spending plan unveiled last year, which has since been challenged by members of Biden’s own party, namely Joe Manchin of the moderate Democrat B. The plan aims to reduce the cost of prescription drugs and other health care costs as well as childcare, and also calls for investment in combating climate change and additional funding for policing and law enforcement. To pay for the plans, Biden called on Congress to impose a minimum tax on investment income of richer Americans to help reduce the deficit. The proposal – which requires US households worth more than $ 100 million to pay a minimum tax of 20 percent on all income, including unrealized investment gains such as stocks and bonds – is projected to reduce the deficit by about $ 360 billion. dollars over the next decade. Combined with the other measures outlined in the budget, this total will increase to $ 1 trillion, the government said. The president also reiterated his plans to increase standard income taxes on households earning more than $ 400,000 and increase corporate income taxes to 28%. Biden is also targeting stock acquisitions by top executives, with a proposal to ban them from selling shares in the years following those acquisitions. The draft budget was met with mixed reception from the progressive Democrats, with Senator Bernie Saunders rejecting the need for a “massive increase” in the defense budget. Elizabeth Warren, a progressive Massachusetts senator, praised Biden for tackling what she called “misguided incentives that encourage excessive stock acquisitions, often to the detriment of investments and employees.”
