Biden Budget Would Lead to Record National Debt: Watchdog

The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget has warned President Joe Biden that his proposed budget for 2024 would set a new record for national debt within four years.

“Debt under the President’s budget would grow to a new record as a share of the economy over the next decade,” The CRFB In the March 9 analysis, According to this estimate, America’s public debt could reach its highest ever level by 2027.

According to the Washington-based non-profit organization, Washington’s public policy group, the draft budget of Biden will see the national debt rise from 98 per cent GDP at the close of the year to 106 per cent by 2027.

This means that the debt will rise from $24.6 trillion to $32.9 trillion today to 2027 in dollar terms.

‘Disappointing’

By 2033, which is the end of Biden’s 10-year budget plan, the national debt will continue to climb to 110 percent GDP.

This would make the national debt nearly twice as high in nominal terms than it is today, at $43.6 trillion, over 10 years.

“Debt would continue to rise unsustainably under the President’s budget, reaching a new record of 110 percent of GDP by 2033,” CRFB stated in its analysis.

“This debt level is likely to be even higher under CBO’s [Congressional Budget Office’s] forthcoming re-estimate of the budget and would rise even further if various expiring tax cuts are continued without additional offsets.”

“It is disappointing that the President continues to propose trillions of dollars in new spending and tax breaks without a plan to put our debt on a sustainable path,” The organization was expanded.

The CRFB reserved praise for Biden’s proposal to offset new spending taxes and reduce budget deficits of $3 trillion by 2033.

“These savings are only a third of what is needed to put the debt on a downward path as share of the economy, and it is disappointing the President did not go much further. But it is an achievable target that could be built upon with further deficit reduction in the near future,” CRFB.

Biden on Thursday laid out his opening bid with a budget plan geared “for the middle class” This proposal proposes spending $2.6 trillion more while cutting the federal deficit by almost $3 trillion.

The idea is to tax wealthy Americans to pay for programs such as expanding Child Tax Credit or providing paid national medical leave.

In the next 10 years, $6.8 trillion will be the budget.PDF) proposes approximately $5 trillion in tax increases on high-income earners and corporations.

“When the middle class does well, the poor have a way up and the wealthy still do very well,” Biden said An event was held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. “I want to build the economy from the bottom up and the middle out, not from the top down.”

According to a Fact Sheet The White House released the budget prior to the event. It will be focused on several key areas.

Budget Details

Biden’s plan would restore the Child Tax Credit to its full extent and increase it to $3,000 for children six years and older and $3,600 for those under 6. The Earned Income Credit expansion for childless workers will also be permanent.

Budget would ensure that the $800 per annum average premium reductions are permanent. It also provides Medicaid-like coverage for people living in states without Medicaid expansion. It also proposes to limit Medicare Part D costs-sharing and to cap insulin products’ prices at $35

Biden’s budget proposal also includes funding for Medicaid home- and community-based services. It expands access to child care options and provides free preschool to support children’s development.

The budget proposal includes measures to decrease housing costs and increase affordability. It also contains $59 billion of mandatory funding and tax incentives that aim to increase the supply and affordability of housing for low-income households.

It also includes $10 billion of funding to encourage local and state governments to remove obstacles to affordable housing such as restrictive zoneing.

The budget draft includes $15 billion to enable more states and schools offer free school meals to 9 million additional children. It also contains $6.3 billion to support Special Supplemental Nutrition Programs for Infants, Women, and Children.

Biden’s proposed budget seeks to invest in American manufacturing and innovation, including providing $375 million for NIST’s Industrial Technology Services and $21 billion in discretionary spending for CHIPS and Science Act-authorized activities.

The proposal also provides comprehensive paid family and medical leaves and calls for paid sick time for all workers.

It provides $4.5 billion in funding for clean energy infrastructure. This includes $1.8 billion to retrofit low income homes.

The budget also allocates $16.5 million to climate science and clean-energy innovation. This includes $3.5 billion for Department of Energy’s Office of Science, and $1.6 billion to the National Science Foundation.

The Violence Against Women Act is funded with $1 billion, and the Family Violence Prevention and Services program receives $519 million.

It also proposes nearly $25 billion for U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). This includes $535million for border technology, and $40 million to stop fentanyl-related criminal activity.

This plan aims to raise funds to hire 350 additional Border Patrol Agents as well as 460 additional processing assistants at CBP or ICE.

‘Recipe for Economic and Fiscal Disaster’

The proposal drew criticism, including from GOP leaders, who have said they will not consider a tax increase and instead want to focus on cutting federal spending.

Kevin McCarthy, House Speaker (Republican-Calif.), Steve Scalise, House Majority Leader (Republican-La).In response to the budget plan, the House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (Republican-Calif.), House Majority Whip Tom Emmer(Republican-Minn.) and Elise Stefanik (Republican Conference Chair, N.Y.) issued a joint statement.

“President Joe Biden’s budget is a reckless proposal doubling down on the same far-left spending policies that have led to record inflation and our current debt crisis,” The Republican leadership team claimed.

“We must cut wasteful government spending. Our debt is one of the greatest threats to America and the time to address this crisis is now. Yet, President Biden is proposing out-of-control spending and delaying debt negotiations, following his pattern of shrugging and ignoring when faced with a crisis,” They added.

McCarthy also took to Twitter to criticize the president, claiming that the budget proposal was unacceptable. “completely unserious.”

“He proposes trillions in new taxes that you and your family will pay directly or through higher costs,” McCarthy repeated what has become a Republican mantra. “Washington has a spending problem, NOT a revenue problem.”

The proposal was referred to by Neil Bradley, Executive Vice President of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. “recipe for economic and fiscal disaster.”

“Nearly $2 trillion in spending increases would result in an economy where one out of every four dollars is government spending,” Bradley stated this in a statement. “An unprecedented $5 trillion in tax increases would hit businesses of all sizes and lead to lower wages for working Americans.”