President Biden plans to ask Congress to pay for the entirety of the $1.8 trillion in new spending on health care, child care and education he’ll unveil on Wednesday night, people familiar with the matter tell Axios.
Why it matters: Biden’s decision to fully offset both the $2.25 trillion American Jobs Plan he announced last month, and the $1.8 trillion American Families Plan being rolled out in his joint address, all but guarantee big political battles on both the spending and tax sides of the combined $4 trillion proposal.
- To pay for the second package, Biden will zero in on a series of tax increases for the rich, including increasing the top marginal rate and nearly doubling the capital gains rate.
- He'll also draw on some of the corporate tax increases he announced last month to pay for a portion of the $1.8 trillion plan, as the individual tax increases won't cover the entire proposal.
- Biden will pledge not to raise taxes on households making less than $400,000.
- Biden doesn't plan to increase the rate, or lower the exemptions, on estate taxes, like he vowed to do during the campaign, according to Bloomberg News.
- To claim the plans are offset, the White House will count increased revenue over a 15-year window to pay for the $4 trillion in spending, most of which they will do in eight years, the people tell Axios.
The big picture: Biden will use his first address to Congress to take stock of his first 100 days in office. He'll also make the case for the additional spending he previewed during the campaign as part of his Build Back Better agenda....