Joe Biden is expected to propose a $6 trillion budget for 2022 that would break World War II-era debt records, the New York Times reported Thursday.
The budget will drive federal spending to $8.2 trillion by 2031, according to the Times. Federal debt would reach 117% of economic output by 2031, and would break the record set by the United States in World War II by 2024.
Breaking News: President Biden will propose a $6 trillion budget that would take the U.S. to its highest sustained levels of federal spending since World War II.https://t.co/QhXqgAug27
— The New York Times (@nytimes) May 27, 2021
The budget is expected to include money for traditional infrastructure needs, such as roads, pipes, and broadband internet, as well childcare subsidies, universal pre-kindergarten, and national paid parental leave, according to the Times. (RELATED: Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand Says The Quiet Part About Biden’s ‘Infrastructure’ Plan Out Loud)
The budget will reportedly be financed by increased taxes on corporations and wealthier Americans, but the hikes will not be enough to finance the entirety of Biden’s proposal. This is similar to the American Rescue Plan (ARP), which is expected to raise the debt by $3.8 trillion by 2031, according to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget.
Many states, including big-spending California, Illinois, and New York, already have budget surpluses as a result of federal bailout money from the ARP. Many economists believe that the large amounts of cash disbursed by the Biden administration through the ARP are a key cause of current levels of inflation.
“When you add $1.9 trillion to an economy that is only $400 billion away from its optimal performance, you’re going to have a lot of excess spending that just goes into higher prices and inflation. And we’re starting to see that right now,” Manhattan Institute economist Brian Riedl told the Daily Caller in an early May interview.