By WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden in a speech Thursday contrasted his “Bidenomics” policies with what the White House has dubbed “MAGAnomics,” as the two parties continue to spar over the budget with a potential government shutdown on the horizon.
“The country should know the facts, they should know the choice between Bidenomics and MAGAnomics,” Biden said. “Their plan, MAGAnomics, is more extreme than anyone has ever gone before.”
The MAGAnomics vision outlined by Biden is based on the budget released in June by the Republican Study Committee. The core tenets of the Republican plan that the administration highlighted are cutting taxes for the wealthiest Americans and corporations, making cuts to social safety net programs such as Social Security and Medicare and eliminating Medicare’s ability to negotiate drug prices and the cap on insulin.
“The plan they’re proposing never worked, but they’ve decided to make it much, much worse,” Biden said.
The economic address comes amid a budget showdown in Congress where hardline Republicans in the House of Representatives are demanding cuts too big to pass in the Democratic-controlled Senate.
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Congress has just over two weeks to pass the 12 appropriations bills and get Biden’s signature. Failure to do so by Sept. 30 would result in a government shutdown leading to furloughed workers, agencies being closed and many essential programs placed in peril.
“The shutdown should not happen,” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Wednesday. “That’s Congress’ job: to avoid a shutdown.”
It’s the second spending standoff this year. House Republicans in the spring refused to lift the debt ceiling without cost-cutting concessions. The issue now is the hardline House Freedom Caucus, which is looking to cut spending for fiscal 2024 to $1.47 trillion, or about $120 billion under what Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy agreed to earlier this year.
“We’ve already agreed,” Jean-Pierre said. “There was a bipartisan agreement on how to move forward with the budget that they voted on. A deal is a deal. They should keep their word and they should keep the government open.”
The president said Republicans spend more time attacking his policies than touting their own.
“For all the time they spend attacking me and my plan, here’s what they never do: They never talk about what they want to do,” Biden said. “Think about it. They tell you what they’re against, what are they for? It’s like they want to keep it a secret.”
