US President Joe Biden presented his administration’s budget proposal today for fiscal year 2024. This document is essentially a White House “wish list,” and even more so today, given that Congress is divided. However, the Democratic president’s spending and revenue priorities will be key factors in the upcoming negotiations with Republicans on raising the debt ceiling.

THE Biden he is promising welfare and taxing the wealthy, essentially heralding his campaign platform ahead of the 2024 presidential election. But analysts point out that many of these measures have no chance of being passed by Congress.

The 2024 budget envisages reducing the debt by about $3 trillion over 10 years, the White House announced. To do this, the US president wants to introduce a minimum tax of 25% for billionaires, i.e. for the richest 0.01% of Americans. It also proposes raising the corporate tax rate to 28%, up from 21% today. However, this percentage remains lower than the 35% that was the tax rate until Donald Trump’s tax reform in 2017.

At the same time, Biden wants to drastically reduce some “wasteful” spending, specifically targeting Big Pharma, the pharmaceutical sector, and Big Oil, the oil industry.

“My budget will require the wealthy to pay their fair share so that the millions of workers who helped create that wealth can retire with the health insurance they paid for,” Biden himself said in a post. on Twitter.

The 80-year-old president, who has yet to officially announce his 2024 candidacy but appears to be already on the campaign trail, will present his proposal later today in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, an electorally critical state.

The budget foresees expenditures amounting to 6.883 trillion. dollars and revenues of 5.036 trillion. for fiscal year 2024, which begins on October 1. This means that the deficit will rise to 1.846 trillion. It is also predicted that the annual deficit will exceed 1 trillion. dollars every year until 2033.

The White House is also asking for $842 billion in the defense budget, up from $816 billion this year. Border protection calls for a nearly $800 million increase in the Immigration and Customs Enforcement budget, bringing total funding to $25 billion.

As part of the effort to cut costs, the government says it will push forward with initiatives to combat fraud on spending on programs implemented during the pandemic and others. Biden also wants to increase fines for companies that flout labor laws.

The American president he believes he can ensure another 25 years of funding for the health insurance system that benefits Americans over 65, Medicare. He also plans to raise the wages of federal employees by 5 percent.

However, Biden should have no illusions about his ability to implement his proposals: since the beginning of the year, he no longer controls the House of Representatives, and Republicans say they are determined not to approve any tax increases.

The other confrontation between Democrats and Republicans is more pressing and concerns raising the debt limit. The US is the only industrial superpower in the world that is forced to seek the approval of its Congress to allow the government to increase its debt. This vote was for a long time something formal, but in recent years it has become highly politicized. The head of the House, Republican Kevin McCarthy, assures that his party will not approve an increase in the debt limit as long as Biden does not restrain public spending.

The Democratic president is currently refusing to negotiate, believing that the debt that has accumulated over the years is the responsibility of both parties.

The stake is not insignificant: if the bra-de-fer oi is extended USA they will face the threat of a payment freeze from July, something that has never happened before.

The debt of the world’s largest economy reached 31.4 trillion on January 19. dollars and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen then announced that she was activating emergency, temporary measures to keep government services running until July.