By Josh Boak | Associated Press
WASHINGTON — As political gridlock puts the government at risk of defaulting, President Joe Biden on Thursday is making an opening offer with a budget plan that would cut deficits by $2.9 trillion over the next decade — a proposal that Republicans already intend to reject.
It’s part of a broader attempt by the president to call out House Republicans who are demanding severe cuts to spending in return for lifting the government’s legal borrowing limit. But the GOP has no counteroffer so far, other than a flat “no” to a Biden blueprint with tax increases on the wealthy that could form the policy backbone of Biden’s yet-to-be-declared campaign for reelection in 2024.
“Congressional Republicans keep saying they want to reduce the deficit, but they haven’t put out a comprehensive plan showing what they’ll cut,” said Shalanda Young, director of the White House Office of Management and Budget. “We’re looking forward to seeing their budget so the American people can compare it to what we’re putting out today.”
Biden’s package of tax and spending priorities is unlikely to pass the House or Senate as proposed.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., said the president’s proposed deficit reduction was inadequate. “It just seems like it’s going to create the biggest government in history. I don’t think that’s what we need at this time,” he said.
The president was traveling to the political battleground state of Pennsylvania to promote the plan, staking out what he believes is popular terrain that will make it hard for Republicans to criticize without risking blowback. White House officials separately released polling as part of the budget that they say shows public support for their policies, evidence they want to set up the 2024 election as a contest of ideas.
In addition to deficit reduction, Biden’s 10-year budget largely revolves around the idea of taxing the wealthy to help fund programs for…
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