Joe Biden took another swipe at Donald Trump on Monday as the president revealed his $7.3tn budget proposal for 2025 that offers tax breaks for families, lower healthcare costs, a smaller federal deficit and higher taxes on corporations and the wealthy.
Biden made the remarks in an afternoon appearance in Goffstown, on the outskirts of Manchester, New Hampshire. Referring to the former president as “my predecessor”, as he did repeatedly during last week’s fiery State of the Union speech, Biden condemned Trump for “making $2tn in tax cuts” during his single term, and “expanding the federal deficit”.
“I’m not anti-corporation. I’m a capitalist man. Make all the money you want. Just begin to pay your fair share in taxes,” he said. “A fair tax code is how we invest in things that make this country great.”
Unlikely to pass the House and Senate to become law, the proposal for fiscal 2025 is an election-year blueprint about what the future could hold if Biden and enough of his fellow Democrats win in November. The president and his aides previewed parts of his budget going into last week’s State of the Union address, with plans to provide the fine print on Monday.
If the Biden budget became law, deficits could be pruned $3tn over a decade. Parents could get an increased child tax credit. Homebuyers could get a tax credit worth $9,600. Corporate taxes would jump upward, while billionaires would be charged a minimum tax of 25%.
Biden also wants Medicare to have the ability to negotiate prices on 500 prescription drugs, which could save $200bn over 10 years.
The president also called on Congress to apply his $2,000 cap on drug costs and $35 insulin to everyone, not just people who have Medicare. He is also seeking to make permanent some protections in the Affordable Care Act that are set to expire next year.
All of this is a chance for Biden to try to define the race on his preferred terms, just as the all-but-certain Republican nominee, Trump, wants to rally voters around his agenda.
Trump, for his part, would like to increase tariffs and pump out gushers of oil. He called for a “second phase” of tax cuts as parts of his 2017 overhaul of the income tax code would expire after 2025. The Republican has also said he would slash government regulations. He has also pledged to pay down the national debt, though it is unclear how without him detailing severe spending cuts.
“We’re going to do things that nobody thought was possible,” Trump said after his wins in last week’s Super Tuesday nomination contests.
The Republican US presidential candidate, speaking in an interview on CNBC, also called for action on popular US entitlement programs, including cuts, and indicated he was not likely to curb use of cryptocurrencies.
Asked about concerns over increased political polarization on the nation’s financial stability, Trump said he was concerned about Fitch’s 2023 downgrade but dismissed the credit rating downgrade’s ties to the January 6 riot at the Capitol.
Trump’s comments are his first extended remarks on his economic plans since he became the party’s likely nominee following last week’s “Super Tuesday” primary elections, setting up a rematch with Biden in November.
His tariff plan has spurred talk of inflation, and US treasury secretary Janet Yellen has said it would raise costs for American consumers.
“I think taxes could be cut, I think other things could happen to more than adjust that. But I’m a big believer in tariffs,” Trump told CNBC, saying they help American industries when they are “being taken advantage of” by China and other nations.
“Beyond the economics, it gives you power in dealing with other countries,” he said, adding that he was not concerned about any possible retaliatory tariffs if he were to regain the White House.
Asked about Medicare, Social Security and the nation’s spending and deficits, Trump told CNBC: “There is a lot you can do in terms of entitlements in terms of cutting and in terms of also the theft and the bad management.”
House Republicans on Thursday voted their own budget resolution for the next fiscal year out of committee, saying it would trim deficits by $14tn over 10 years. But their measure would depend on rosy economic forecasts and sharp spending cuts, reducing $8.7tn in Medicare and Medicaid expenditures. Biden has pledged to stop any cuts to Medicare.
“The House’s budget blueprint reflects the values of hard-working Americans who know that in tough economic times, you don’t spend what you don’t have – our federal government must do the same,” House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican of Louisiana, said in a statement.
Meanwhile, Congress is still working on a budget for the current fiscal year. On Saturday, Biden signed into law a $460bn package to avoid a shutdown of several federal agencies, but lawmakers are only about halfway through addressing spending for this fiscal year.
