President Joe Biden will unveil a federal budget totaling $6 trillion, according to documents seen by the New York Times. The splurge will further raise the US’ national debt and accelerate inflation.
Biden will propose his budget on Friday. A New York Times report on Thursday revealed that the Democratic president will ask Congress for $6 trillion, and to increase this to $8 trillion by 2031. Such a sustained level of government spending has not been seen in the US since World War II.
Biden’s plan would drive the US’ budget deficit to $1.8 trillion in 2022, per the Times’ reporting. The largest prior deficit was $1.4 trillion, following then-President Obama’s economic bailout after the 2008 financial crisis. National debt would grow to 117% of the size of the economy by 2031, and by the end of Biden’s first term in 2024, would reach its highest level in history, passing the previous WWII-era record.
Biden hopes to offset the spending hike with tax increases, particularly on corporations and wealthy Americans. However, raising taxes is a delicate balancing act, and a jacked up corporate tax rate could strangle economic growth and cost jobs, industry groups have warned.
