President Joe Biden submitted his $5.8 trillion budget proposal to Congress. The proposal drew some criticism from those on the Left who view it as too conciliatory towards the concerns of moderates with its focus on defense spending and deficit reduction. Republicans were opposed to measures that would increase taxes on the rich and the overall size of the package.
Of course, this is merely the first step in the budget process as now each House of Congress will pass its own budget with the final version passed through a reconciliation process.
Some of the major priorities of the budget were outlined in a speech by President Biden earlier in the week. He called for higher taxes on the wealthy, lower federal deficits, more money for police, and greater funding for education, public health, and housing. The Biden Administration has moved towards the center and been responsive to public polling with its focus on inflation, deficits, and crime which is reflected in its budget.
Biden is also seeking to raise $2.5 trillion in new revenue over the next decade through higher taxes on the highest-income earners and corporations. This includes $361 billion from a minimum 20% tax on families worth $100 million or more, a group that comprises the top 0.001% of taxpayers.
Republicans came out against the budget and the tax hikes. They also disagreed with increased funding for the IRS and EPA. However, the budget is certainly slanted to appeal to moderates and is more focused on their priorities like defense spending and deficit reduction than last year's budget.
The plan increases $795 billion for defense spending including assistance to Ukraine and the hiring of more police officers with more training. Overall, it would reduce deficits by $1 trillion over the next decade, although most spending cuts would be exercised in the later years of the 5 year budget.
The focus on moderates makes sense when considering that the Senate needs every single Democratic vote in order for the budget to pass given that no Republicans will likely support it. Therefore, considerable power and influence is held by swing moderates like Senator Manchin and Sinema who have already come out against the budget's tax-raising mechanism.