President Biden unveils fiscal policy, tax plan proposals in 2024 budget

Yahoo Finance senior columnist Rick Newman joins Yahoo Finance Live to discuss the latest news out of Washington, including the unveiling of President Biden's 2024 budget and the outlook for his approval rating.

Video Transcript

SEANA SMITH: President Biden unveiling his new budget plan, vowing for a $3 trillion deficit cut over the next 10 years.

JOE BIDEN: My budget reflects what we can do to lift the burden on hard-working Americans. And there's more than one way to do that. And that would bring us down to everyday cost. How much do things cost? It's not just whether-- we brought down inflation seven months in a row. We're going to whip it. But in the meantime, there's other ways to take what is inflation in your budget.

SEANA SMITH: All right, let's bring in Yahoo Finance's senior reporter Rick Newman. Rick, obviously, higher taxes a part of this plan. What else is in it?

RICK NEWMAN: The taxes are the big part, but of course, Biden's been saying for some time, he's going to make sure there are no cuts to Medicare or Social Security, and then a lot of familiar things from the 2020 campaign, which, once upon a time, was known as the Build Back Better plan, I guess it's now known as the what used to be the Build Back Better plan. But it's stuff like free community college for people who qualify and expanded child tax credit, free childcare for pre-gardeners and a bunch of other things like that.

I mean, the obvious point to make here is when Democrats controlled Congress for two years, they could not pass any of those things, nor could they pass the tax cuts that Biden was calling for then and that he is calling for now. But I think one of the more practical purposes of this budget is when we see what the Republicans say they want to do and the spending cuts they want to see, then we'll be able to see-- to do a compare and contrast exercise, if you will, and say, well, here's what Biden says, here's what the Republicans say, and then voters can decide which of those plans they like better.

DAVE BRIGGS: Man, it's an exercise in futility. Nobody's serious about fiscal discipline. Nobody. But you mentioned Republicans. Chuck Grassley tweeting this today, if we can put that up on the screen, President Biden's '24 budget proposal is a roadmap to fiscal ruin. From its delayed rollout to its reckless taxes, out of control spending, this budget sends a clear message Biden doesn't seem to give a rip about keeping his promises of securing the fiscal health of our nation. Biden, for his part, says he's ready to talk with Republicans. Listen.

JOE BIDEN: So I want to make it clear I'm ready to meet with the Speaker any time-- 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. If we don't agree on, let's see what we vote on.

DAVE BRIGGS: Let's be honest. Is there anything they agree on?

RICK NEWMAN: Well, you heard Biden's caveat there-- if he has his budget. And no, there's nothing they agree on right now, but they're going to have to agree on something because they are going to have-- I mean, this is all about getting to the point where they raise the federal borrowing limit, the debt ceiling. And they're going to have to agree to do that, one way or another. And what that's probably going to mean are small concessions by Democrats to some kind of budget cutting so that Republicans can at least say, look, we got some cuts in spending, or we got a roadmap to cuts in spending or something that sort of passes the political sniff test.

I don't know that many voters actually care about this, but Republicans do care about it among themselves. So it's going to be more interesting when we see what the Republicans really want to do. I mean, Chuck Grassley or all the Biden critics can say he's leading to fiscal ruin, but the Republicans ain't got a great track record here either. I mean, they cut taxes by $2 trillion under Trump. That just added to the national debt, which is now $31 trillion. Both parties have pushed the national debt up, and they just keep blaming the other side, instead of trying to figure out what to do about it.

SEANA SMITH: Well, Rick, when it comes to President Biden's approval rating, that, at least, is headed in the right direction. So good news there for his party, hitting the highest level since June, rising to 42%. This is a new Reuters Ipsos poll here. Is this anything for the Democrats to get that excited about? Because it's still just around 42%.

RICK NEWMAN: No, that's lame. And I mean, if that's an improvement for Biden, I mean, it's like a one percentage point improvement. 50% is a good threshold for-- that's sort of the floor for where a president wants to be. And we've seen a very clear correlation between the decline in approval for Biden and, guess what, inflation. That has been very clear inflation freaks people out. They can't stand it when they have to pay more for food, as they've been doing, and a bunch of other things as we've been talking about over and over. And that problem is not solved.

So that's what people care about. They don't care about Biden's budget and a giant book of plans that are never going to get fulfilled. But Biden is trying to do all of the above. He's trying to present his vision for the future, and presumably, for his next presidential campaign, while creating a basis for refuting whatever Republicans come up with and telling people I know we have further to go on inflation. He also said that today.

DAVE BRIGGS: But it has been quiet on announcing that he is running. A lot of speculation, but no definitive word from Biden. Rick Newman, good to see you, sir. Thanks so much.

RICK NEWMAN: Bye, guys.