The White House will release a $6 trillion budget plan amid complaints from the GOP about wasteful spending and ruinous debt, but their guy also added to the national debt big time.
released ahead of Biden’s 100th day in office last month, Rep. Jason Smith , the Republican leader of the House Budget Committee, described President Biden’s policy agenda as an “unsustainable spending binge.” During Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen’s confirmation hearing in January, Senate GOP Whip John Thune, “the one thing that concerns me that nobody seems to be talking about anymore is the massive amount of debt that we continue to rack up as a nation.
All together, Biden’s three major initiatives so far—the American Rescue Plan and the proposed American Jobs Plan and American Families Plan—would account for some $6 trillion in new federal spending. The $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan, signed into law in March, was focused on emergency coronavirus relief and financed almost entirely with new federal debt. While Biden has proposed tax increases on corporations and the rich and a crackdown on tax evasion to pay for the next $4.
“For all the criticism of Biden's proposals—which I will grant are very, very large and expansionary—at least he's putting out the metric of paying for them,” MacGuineas says. “And President Trump, when he was in office, when the economy was stronger than it is now, didn't do the same.”in March that the federal budget deficit will reach $3.4 trillion or 15.6% of GDP in fiscal 2021, a new record after 2020’s $3.1 trillion deficit.
The Biden Administration has argued that all that spending is necessary, citing the success of the ARP in distributing cash relief to American families and shoring up consumer confidence to jump start the economy again. In remarks before congressional leaders on Thursday, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen pushed for more. “Our annual budget is still at the same enacted level as 2010 [after adjustment for inflation], and critical policy offices...
And despite all the bluster from Republicans, it’s still possible some in the GOP could get on board with at least some additional debt. A few lawmakers within the GOP have indicated that they might be willing to add a little more to the national debt to finance a bipartisan infrastructure deal rather than raise the money through tax hikes, Axios