Senate OKs Dems’ $3.5T budget in latest win for Biden

Senate Democrats early Wednesday passed a $3.5 trillion spending blueprint for President Biden’s top priorities in a 50-49 vote along party lines — and much of the budget plan will be paid for with higher taxes on the wealthy and corporations.

The senators held a 15-hour “vote-a-rama,” a nonstop string of messaging amendments that resulted in 40 roll calls by the time the measure was approved around 4 a.m. in a crucial step for a president and party set on training the government’s fiscal might on helping families, creating jobs and fighting climate change. Besides higher taxes on the wealthy and corporations, Democrats envision savings by letting the government negotiate prices for pharmaceuticals it purchases, slapping taxes on imported carbon fuels and strengthening IRS tax collections.