President Joe Biden is expected to propose a $6 trillion budget on Friday which would return the country to spending levels unseen since World War II, The New York Times reports.
Biden’s proposal calls for $6 trillion in spending in 2022 and increases to $8.2 trillion by 2031. The growth is partly the result of Biden’s push to invest trillions in infrastructure and to expand the social safety net as well as other discretionary spending increases.
The budget projects deficit levels above $1.3 trillion for the next decade. The deficit would hit $1.8 trillion in 2022 and fall slightly to $1.6 trillion by 2031.
Biden plans to shrink the deficit down the road in the 2030s by raising taxes on corporations and the wealthy. Administration officials say that the spending in Biden’s American Jobs Plan and Families Plan will be offset by tax increases over the next 15 years.
The budget would still put the US national debt on track to exceed the size of the country’s GDP in 2031.
Massive government expansion:
The budget does not include many new plans but fleshes out his existing proposals.
The budget includes funding to build and repair roads and water pipes, expand access to broadband internet, build thousands of electric vehicle charging stations, and boost manufacturing research.
The budget also includes funding for affordable child care, universal pre-K starting at 3 years old, a national paid leave program, and other social safety net programs.
Military spending would also grow but it would decline as a share of the economy.
Healthcare:
Biden’s plan does not include a public option, which he campaigned on as his progressive rivals called for a Medicare for All type system.
But the budget does call on Congress to lower the enrollment age for Medicare to 60 and allow Medicare to negotiate prices with drug companies.
It also includes progressive proposals to expand Medicare coverage to dental, vision, and hearing.
