WHAT THEY’RE SAYING: As Biden Unveils Budget, Republicans Have No Plan, Float Reckless MAGA Fictions

Mar 10, 2023

WASHINGTON, DC — Yesterday, President Biden unveiled his comprehensive Fiscal Year 2024 Budget from a Philadelphia union hall, joined by House Budget Committee Ranking Member Brendan Boyle (PA-02). While President Biden's budget is out in the open, extreme MAGA Republicans have so far refused to reveal theirs — and they continue to push the deadline for producing a plan further and further down the road.

 

It's time for Congressional Republicans to stop hiding their plans from the American people and reveal the full details of their economic scheme which raises taxes on families, cuts Social Security and Medicare, and hands lavish tax breaks to the wealthy and well-connected.

 

Here's what they're saying about Republicans' attempts to distract and deflect from the fact that their math doesn't add up:

 

Associated Press: Biden rolls out budget plan, challenges GOP to follow suit: As political gridlock puts the government at risk of defaulting, President Joe Biden on Thursday made an opening bid 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.

 

USA Today: Biden's budget calls for new taxes on wealthy, deficit cuts. Here's what the GOP is proposing House Republicans have spent the week blasting President Joe Biden's budget as a Shakespearean tragedy, claiming "what's past is prologue" and that the top Democrat is once again crafting a bloated plan that will ultimately raise taxes and debt. But soon Republicans may find themselves "in a pickle" another phrase from Shakespeare's "The Tempest" when they have to unveil what's in their own budget. Biden will release his budget Thursday afternoon, and Democrats have been asking Republicans, "What's your plan?" It's a question members of the House majority haven't been quick to answer in Capitol hallways, press conferences and interviews, but some of their public statements in the last two months offer a roadmap.

 

Vanity Fair: REPUBLICANS DON'T HAVE A BUDGET PLAN—CAN JOE BIDEN FORCE THEIR HAND? Biden, who teased part of his plan in a New York Times op-ed earlier this week, is undoubtedly aware that McCarthy and his caucus won't advance this budget in its current form. But he may see this as a way to force Republicans' hand: “Show me your budget,” as the president said in January, “and I'll show you mine.” He may have to wait a bit for a counter-proposal, though: House Budget Chairman Jodey Arrington told CNN's Melanie Zanona on Thursday that the GOP may not release a budget plan of its own until May, only a month before the debt fight is expected to reach a crisis point. An Arrington spokesperson later said he “misspoke” and that the timing was still being worked out. But the uncertainty over the timing of the GOP plan, let alone what will be in it, speaks to the recklessness of Republicans' game of chicken here: In the name of fiscal responsibility, they are nudging the country closer and closer to financial disaster.

 

The Washington Post: Biden urges McCarthy to release his budget, says he's ready to meet anytime: Today, after introducing his budget for the 2024 fiscal year, President Biden said the onus is on House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) to put forward his plan so that the two can go “line by line” to see what they can agree upon. “I'm ready to meet with the speaker anytime,” Biden said as he delivered remarks at a union hall in Philadelphia where he is outlining his priorities on education, health care and other issues.

 

POLITICO: Biden dumps budget onus on House Republicans in debuting $1.7T plan: The government funding proposal, unveiled Thursday by the White House and which has no chance of passing Congress, marks both a campaign pitch and an opening shot at House Republicans who have demanded significant spending cuts. Democrats have been daring Republicans to put their demands in writing as the GOP seeks fiscal concessions in return for helping to lift the debt ceiling later this year… Speaking to union members at a trade school, Biden framed his proposal as a direct challenge to House Republicans advocating for deep spending cuts amid a looming standoff over lifting the nation's borrowing limit. “I'm ready to meet with the speaker any time — tomorrow, if he has his budget,” he said, referring to Speaker Kevin McCarthy. “Lay it down, tell me what you want to do. I'll show you what I want to do.”

 

The Washington Post: Biden calls for trillions in tax hikes and new domestic spending: As Republicans ramp up their demands for extending President Donald Trump's 2017 tax cuts while cutting spending, Biden's budget shows the president moving in a starkly different direction. “Congressional Republicans keep saying they want to reduce the deficit. But they have not put out a comprehensive plan showing what they'll cut,” White House Office of Management and Budget Director Shalanda Young told reporters earlier Thursday. “Will it be Medicare? Social Security? The Affordable Care Act? Veterans' benefits? We don't know until they put out a plan. We're looking forward to seeing their budget so the American people can compare it to what we're putting out today.”

 

 

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