The White House released a 2025 budget proposal on Monday that would raise taxes on corporations and the ultra-wealthy to reduce deficits and invest in working families and the middle class, a plan meant to stand in stark contrast to Republican visions for the future as President Joe Biden seeks reelection in November.

Notably, the Biden budget proposes a national, “comprehensive” paid family leave program, a major priority for progressives and the labor movement. The program would provide all workers up to 12 weeks of paid leave to care for a newborn, a sick loved one or themselves during an illness.

The proposed budget would also restore the child tax credit that cut child poverty by 46 percent in 2021 and establish a “historic new program” to guarantee families making less than $200,000 a year access to affordable child care from birth until kindergarten, an investment that supporters say would pay for itself by boosting worker productivity and the economy.

However, such proposals would go nowhere if Congress remains divided after elections in November. For Biden, the budget functions as a pitch to voters that paints him as a champion of working families who are frustrated with the economy — and, if the polls are correct, appear to blame the president.

After being hammered by Republicans for months over inflation, Biden says his top domestic priority is bringing down the costs of higher education, health care, child care and housing. The White House claims the president’s budget is designed to do just with broad proposals for new social spending and infrastructure investment, all while saving middle- and lower-income taxpayers $765 billion over the next 10 years.

However, the Biden........

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