Hoosier lawmakers react to President Biden’s budget proposal

WASHINGTON (WIBC) — President Joe Biden revealed his budget proposal for the next decade on Thursday in Philadelphia and Hoosier lawmakers are reacting to the plan.

The president is emphasizing a $6.9 trillion spending plan over the next fiscal year which includes a minimum tax on wealthy Americans that he says will reduce the federal deficit. That calls for a 25% tax on the income of America’s wealthiest people.

The budget also prioritizes spending on climate initiatives, boosted Medicare spending, and defense spending when it comes to China.

“The president is requesting that we spend $82 trillion dollars over the next ten years with only $65 trillion in revenue,” Rep. Rudy Yakym (R-IN-2nd) said in a video on Twitter. “That adds $17 trillion to the already $31 trillion dollars of deficits and debt that we’ve wracked up in the past.”

Biden insists his proposal will reduce the deficit by $170 billion.

In the Senate, Sen. Mike Braun (R-IN) believes most lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are not serious about reducing the federal government’s spending.

“It’s gotten relegated to a place where no one wants the rigor of it,” Braun told Fox News. “When I was in our state legislature, you had to get it done within a balanced budget amendment or statute.”

Braun accuses many GOP lawmakers of saying they are “fiscally conservative” but then “going right along” with increased spending he says is perpetrated by Democratic lawmakers.

On Twitter, Braun said that the president’s budget is “dead on arrival” in Congress since Republicans control the House. Republicans are once again urging the president to negotiate with them on spending cuts, especially with the debt ceiling looming over their heads.

The debt ceiling also needs to be addressed by mid-summer.

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) is calling on his Democratic colleagues to do what Republicans ask and negotiate since he is in agreement that the government needs to reduce its spending.