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President Biden is Looking more for Education, Health Care, and Housing

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Jennie Miller

US President Joe Biden has released a $1.5 trillion wish list for his first federal budget. He was asking for substantial gains for Democratic priorities including education, health care, housing, and environmental protection. The request by the White House budget office Friday for an 8.4% increase in agency operating budgets spells out Biden’s top priorities as Congress weighs its spending plans for next year. Point to be noted that it is the first financial outline of the Democrats’ broader ambitions since the expiration of a 2011 law that capped congressional spending. Biden said, “I’m hoping it’ll have some bipartisan support across the board”. Prominent Senate Republicans immediately complained the plan would shortchange the military and national security in boosting domestic programs. The White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the administration was inheriting a legacy of chronic underinvestment because of the caps.

Psaki added, “The president is focused on reversing this trend and reinvesting in the foundations of our strength”. President Biden’s request provides a significantly smaller 1.6% increase for the $700 billion-plus Pentagon budget than for domestic accounts. US Homeland security accounts would basically be frozen, reflecting opposition among Democratic progressives to immigration security forces. Senate Republicans also criticized the modest proposed increase for defense. Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Jim Inhofe, Marco Rubio, Lindsey Graham, and Richard Shelby released a joint statement. They said, “Talk is cheap, but defending our country is not. We can’t afford to fail in our constitutional responsibility to provide for the common defense. To keep America strong, we must balance domestic and defense spending priorities”. The Biden administration believes the caps, imposed by a long-abandoned 2011 budget deal, caused a decade of severe underinvestment in public services.

President Biden is now trying to turn around with large increases that would mostly bypass national security programs. The Biden administration said the request would bring spending in line with historical averages. It seeks $769 billion in non-defense discretionary funding, about equal to the 30-year average relative to the overall US economy. Biden needs to increase the Education Department’s budget by a massive 40.8% to $102.8 billion, which includes an additional $20 billion in grants for high-poverty schools. The Department of Health and Human Services would get a 23.1% boost to $133.7 billion. The administration is also asking for $6.5 billion to establish a biomedical research agency to address cancer, diabetes, Alzheimer’s, and other diseases. Biden is seeking a $14 billion increase across government agencies to address climate change. Housing and Urban Development would get a 15.1% increase to $68.7 billion, primarily to provide housing vouchers for an additional 200,000 families.

Source: http://www.vindulacms.com/president-biden-is-looking-more-for-education-health-care-and-housing/

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Jennie Miller
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