US President Joe Biden has proposed increasing the country’s military funding to 9.8% as part of a $5.8 billion budget plan that includes measures to bolster the Pentagon’s response. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the imposition of taxes on the wealthiest Americans.
In the proposal released on Monday, the White House said Biden would ask Congress to increase defense spending by $69 billion next fiscal year, to a total of $773 billion.
Of these, $6.9 billion will be set aside to support Ukraine and “enhancing the capabilities and readiness” of the Nato alliance in the region. Additional funding will also be directed toward strengthening the United States’ “deterrence capabilities” in the Indo-Pacific region.
In a statement released Monday, Biden hailed the broader defense proposal as “one of the largest investments in our national security in history, with the funds needed to secure that our military remains the best prepared, the best trained, and the best equipped. In the world”.
The budget includes a minimum tax on the investment income of the richest Americans as well as restrictions on share buybacks by top executives.
The proposal comes as Mr Biden was forced on Monday to clarify his comments about Vladimir Putin following a backlash over his assertion two days ago that the Russian President “cannot continue to be in power”. , causing public concern that this could escalate tensions between the two countries.
During a challenging press conference at the White House on Monday, the US President insisted he was expressing personal outrage instead of supporting a “change of policy”.
“I am expressing the moral outrage I feel towards this man. I didn’t explicitly articulate a policy change,” Biden said.
“If he continues the course he is taking, he will become a pariah all over the world and who knows what he will become with support,” he added.
Biden said his comments did not complicate efforts to find a diplomatic path out of the conflict and instead criticized Putin for continuing to “engage in the carnage”.
“That’s what complicates things,” Biden said.
Monday’s budget proposal underscores how the Biden administration is forced to prioritize national security even as it tries to sidestep the rest of its economic agenda, with high inflation remaining the hole. biggest political due to the midterm elections taking place in November.
In the economic projections accompanying the proposal, the White House said the consumer price index would fall from a four-decade high of 7.9% to 4.7% by the end of the year, before falling. half to 2.3% by 2023.
During that time, there has been no significant slowdown in growth or employment, with the White House suggesting the economy will continue to expand at a steady rate. The unemployment rate is expected to fall to 3.6% in 2023 before returning to its current level of 3.8%.
White House maintains proposal to increase spending will not exacerbate increases inflationary. Instead, it argues that the changes could in fact help alleviate price pressures that are becoming more pervasive in the economy and at risk of becoming entrenched.
“It fights inflation and helps families cope with rising costs by growing our economy, producing more goods in the US, and reducing the costs that families face.” Biden said in a letter to Congress accompanying the budget plan. “Its bold ideas have been fully deserved, with tax reforms unable to offset the cost of new investments.”
The White House budget seeks to revive initiatives at the heart of a massive social spending plan announced last year, which has been met with opposition from Biden’s Democrats.
To pay for the plans, the president call Congress imposed a minimum tax on the investment income of America’s wealthiest people to help reduce the deficit.
Proposal to require US households worth more than $100 million to pay a minimum tax of 20% on all income, including unrealized gains from investments like stocks and bonds . The deficit is forecast to reduce by about $360 billion over the next decade.
Combined with other measures outlined in the budget, that total would rise to $1 billion, the administration said.
Biden is also aiming to buy back shares of top executives, with a proposal to ban them from selling shares in the years following the acquisition.
The budget blueprint has met with mixed reception from progressive Democrats, with Senator Bernie Sanders pushing back against the need for a “dramatic increase” in the defense budget.
