Introduction
How would you spend $6.9 trillion dollars? President Biden’s got some ideas, and I’ll tell you what they are. Plus: Over 100 countries have agreed to protect ocean life.
Those stories and more today on… NOTICE News.
Biden’s Budget Proposal
Hey guys and happy Monday from Brooklyn. It’s Jonathan here at Notice HQ with a really big number: $6.9 trillion dollars. That’s how much the federal government proposes spending in the upcoming year according to the president’s annual budget proposal released last week.
While nearly 7 trillion dollars in spending sounds like a lot — and it is — Biden’s budget also plans to reduce the deficit by 3 trillion dollars.
A deficit happens when the government spends more money than it takes in, and Biden’s plan to reduce that amount would come from raising taxes on the rich and huge corporations.
Biden: “No billionaire should be paying a lower tax than somebody working as a school teacher or a firefighter or any of you in this room. So my plan is to make sure the corporations begin to pay their fair share.”
The budget proposal also calls for strengthening social security, funding universal preschool, and using tax increases on anyone making more than four hundred grand a year to fund Medicare – which is government run health insurance for the elderly – for another 25 years.
Biden: “For too long, working people have been breaking their necks, the economy’s left them behind – working people like you – while those at the top get away with everything”
Every year, the president gives Congress a budget for the forthcoming fiscal year on how the government plans to spend the taxes we all pay. For the government, the 2024 fiscal year begins July 1, 2023, and ends in June 2024.
But these budgets are not set in stone. They’re typically outlines of ideal policies and serve as starting points for negotiations.
Republicans firmly oppose much of what the president has laid out, and instead are preparing to propose 150 billion dollars worth of spending cuts, including 25 billion taken out of the Department of Education.
Biden says he’s ready to negotiate.
Biden: “I want to make it clear I’m ready to meet with the speaker anytime, tomorrow if he has his budget. Lay it down, tell me what you want to do. I’ll show you what I want to do, see what we can agree on and what we don’t agree on… we vote on.”
Headlines
Here’s what else is making news right now…
The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office offered former President Trump the opportunity to testify before a grand jury regarding his presidential campaign funds. The New York Times says this means prosecutors may charge the former president with a crime.
Xi Jinping will be president of China for 5 more years after he was awarded a third term late last week. The National People’s Congress appoints the president and voted for Xi 2,592 to zero.
And… Some people like to put ranch dressing on everything, but how about ranch flavored ice cream? Hidden Valley Ranch announced they will release a limited edition ranch-flavored ice cream starting March 20th.
High Seas Treaty
The United Nations recently completed a historic treaty to protect the high seas.
The high seas, sometimes referred to as international waters, are the portions of any bodies of water that are not owned or directly regulated by any country.
Because these waters aren’t directly regulated, nations have to work together to agree on what is and isn’t acceptable.
The high seas treaty aims to protect the world’s oceans by declaring 30% of them as protected areas. Limits will be placed on the amount of fishing, deep sea mining, and exploration that can be done in these protected areas.
These regulations will likely protect certain species of animals and help to maintain biodiversity. More than 100 countries negotiated the treaty and it’s been under discussion for 15 years.
Nat: “Good evening-ish” … “the ship has reached the shore”
Negotiators had to balance the economic interests of each country, but also the environmental impact of economic activity like mining.
An ocean campaigner for Greenpeace called this quote “a historic day for conservation and a sign that in a divided world, protecting nature and people can triumph over geopolitics.”
Conclusion
That’s it for today – but let’s see how closely you were paying attention. Go take the Notice News quiz on our website noticenews.com.
I’ll be back tomorrow with more from us, Notice News.