Biden’s 2023 budget would hike taxes on the ultra-rich and corporations, boost defense and police spending

President Joe Biden’s 2023 federal budget, released Monday, proposes tax hikes on the ultra-wealthy and corporations while providing billions of dollars in new spending for the Defense Department and the Justice Department.

The proposal sent to Congress touts a reduction in the federal budget deficit of more than $1 trillion over the next 10 years. This is paid for, in part, by raising the corporate tax rate from 21% up to 28%, a rate favored by progressive Democrats but opposed by key moderates. Biden also proposes a new 20% minimum tax on the top 0.01% earners and households worth more than $100 million.

On a call with reporters Monday, White House officials credited Biden’s economic policies with creating economic growth that was strong enough to justify cutting back pandemic assistance programs.

As a result of fewer pandemic safety net costs and higher tax revenue, the White House projects the 2022 budget deficit will be $1.3 trillion less than the 2021 deficit, which the Biden administration touted Monday as “the largest ever one-year decline in our country’s history.”