President’s new budget mentions ‘equity’ 63 times, ‘transgender’ eight times and ‘queer’ seven times

Joe Biden‘s new budget plan, released on Thursday, is light on initiatives for dealing with the drug crisis sweeping the county but heavy on gender politics, according to a new analysis.

Biden mentioned ‘equity’ 63 times in the document, Fox News found – more than double the references to the word ‘border’.

The word ‘fentanyl’ was only mentioned twice.

The word ‘transgender‘ featured eight times, and ‘queer’ seven times – but the word ‘opioids’ was mentioned four times.

‘Equity’, a key focus, was mentioned in the context of racial equity, equal access to healthcare, and equity for veterans.

President Joe Biden speaks about his 2024 budget proposal at the Finishing Trades Institute on Thursday

The White House on Thursday released a video on social media promoting the budget plan

The document has been published online. It is not thought likely to pass

It has largely replaced the word ‘equality’ in progressive circles. Equality means offering everyone the same opportunity, while equity means ensuring everyone achieves the same outcome.

Supporters say equity helps eliminate unfair barriers which make it harder for some to achieve their full potential. Critics say it often involves unfair bias against certain groups deemed as successful, and that equal outcomes are often achieved artificially, by lowering overall standards.  

‘On his first day in office, the President signed a sweeping Executive Order directing the entire Federal Government to advance an ambitious equity and racial justice agenda—not as a one-year project, but as part of a sustained commitment to make the promise of America real for every American,’ the document reads.

‘Since then, the Administration has made significant progress advancing equity across the Federal Government, including by releasing a second Executive Order that strengthens its ability to create opportunities for communities and populations that have been historically underserved, and continues to build an America in which all can participate, prosper, and reach their full potential,’ it continues.

Biden’s 2024 plan is seen as unlikely to pass.

Analysts are describing the proposal as a blueprint for the issues he will run on in 2024, if he decides to seek re-election.

Biden also threw down the gauntlet to his Republican rivals, demanding they too unveil their spending plans.

‘I’ve now laid out my budget,’ he said.

‘Republicans in Congress should do the same.’

Biden said his plan was designed to help ordinary working people

Biden’s plan would cut deficits by $2.9 trillion over the next decade – a proposal that Republicans already intend to reject.

On Thursday, the president spoke at a union training center in Philadelphia, discussing his plan for the government’s finances and how his values contrasted with Republican priorities.

‘I just laid out the bulk of my budget,’ Biden said. 

‘Republicans in Congress should do the same thing. Then we can sit down and see where we disagree.’

Yet the president doubted that Republican members of Congress could make their numbers match their calls for a balanced budget and he suggested that any efforts to do so could come at the expense of middle-class families.

‘How are they going to make the math work?’ Biden said. ‘What are they going to cut?’

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said the president’s proposed deficit reduction was inadequate. 

‘It just seems like it’s going to create the biggest government in history. 

‘I don’t think that’s what we need at this time,’ he said.

In addition to deficit reduction, Biden’s 10-year budget largely revolves around the idea of taxing the wealthy to help fund programs for the middle class, older adults and families. 

It would raise $4.7 trillion from higher taxes, with an additional $800 billion in savings from changes to programs.

The tax increases include a reversal of the 2017 tax cuts made by President Donald Trump on people earning more than $400,000 a year.

Biden has floated a new 25 percent minimum tax on households worth $100 million or more. 

Also, the tax that companies pay on stock buybacks would rise fourfold and those earning more than $400,000 would pay an additional Medicare tax that would help to keep the program solvent beyond the year 2050. 

Medicare could negotiate on the prices of more prescription drugs, helping to save the government money.

Accompanying that would be $2.6 trillion worth of new spending, including the restoration of the expanded child tax credit that would give families as much as $3,600 per child, compared with the current level of $2,000. 

That credit would be ‘fully refundable,’ which means households could receive all of that sum even if they don’t owe any taxes. 

The budget proposal would impose a $35-a-month cap on insulin prices, matching a change that Biden already put in place for Medicare recipients.

At a time of increased tensions with Russia and China, the budget shows a decline in military spending as a share of the U.S. economy over the next decade. 

But federal spending would be equal to roughly one-quarter of economic output as the spending on Social Security and Medicare climbs, essentially keeping the government the same size as it is currently.

The budget would seek to close the ‘carried interest’ loophole that allows wealthy hedge fund managers and others to pay their taxes at a lower rate, and prevent billionaires from being able to set aside large amounts of their holdings in tax-favored retirement accounts. 

The plan also projects saving $24 billion over 10 years by removing a tax subsidy for cryptocurrency transactions.