President Biden laid out his ideal 2024 budget plan yesterday. Maybe we should say ideal-istic, because it’s the White House’s version of asking that no one gift wine to a white elephant. While the proposals are unlikely to be approved by the split Congress, they give a sneak peek of Biden’s policy priorities heading into the next election cycle.

The proposed budget rings in at $6.9 trillion (nice). Here are a few key items in the plan…

• Healthcare: The proposal would cap the price of insulin at $35 per month and empower Medicare to negotiate more drug prices. It would also make tax credits for health insurance premiums permanent.
• Childcare: The child tax credit would increase from $2,000 to $3,600 per child, and families could receive it even if they don’t owe taxes.
• Going to the moon: NASA’s moon-bound Artemis program would get a budgetary boost of $500 million.

Biden’s other big goal? Reducing deficit spending by $3 trillion in the next decade to rein in the national debt.

Who’s paying for this?

Biden hopes to raise $4.7 trillion over 10 years by hiking taxes on the kind of folks whose couches aren’t against a wall.

• Higher taxes for the wealthy: The budget request would reverse Trump-era tax cuts on Americans making more than $400,000 and add a new 25% minimum tax on billionaires. For people making at least $1 million, the proposal would double the tax rate on capital gains, or the profits made from selling assets like stocks, houses, and Pokémon cards.
• Higher taxes for corporations: Under the new plan, the corporate tax rate would jump to 28%, multinationals’ earnings abroad would be taxed at double the current rate, and the tax on stock buybacks would quadruple from its existing 1% rate.

Looking ahead…the GOP likes tax hikes as much as New Yorkers like a Los Angeles bagel, and the Republican-led House is already planning to reject Biden’s budget as proposed. But consider the budget an icebreaker—or more like throwing ice into an inferno—to get conversations going.—JW

Bank stocks get routed. The US banking sector had its worst trading day in almost three years after trouble at Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) sent chills through the industry. Shares of SVB’s parent company tanked a record 60% yesterday after it launched an effort to raise more than $2 billion in capital to mitigate declining deposits. SVB works with almost half of US venture-backed tech and life sciences companies, and some VCs have begun to tell their founders to yank their money from the bank, Semafor reported.

Visa, Mastercard, others pause plan to track gun shop purchases. Major payment networks halted their plan to implement a new merchant category code for sales at gun stores, citing legal uncertainty. Gun control advocates had hoped that by categorizing gun store purchases, payment giants would help authorities spot suspicious activity. But GOP lawmakers pushed back, arguing it would infringe on consumer protections. And several bills have been introduced in state legislatures that would ban this type of tracking.

Allbirds stepped in some doo-doo. The crunchy sneaker brand reported a brutal fourth quarter, posting a 13% annual drop in revenue, and announced a broad strategy shakeup that includes hitting the brake on opening more retail stores. What went wrong? Once the comfy footwear of choice for tech bros in Silicon Valley offices, Allbirds began trying to attract elite athletes with high-performance running sneakers. But customers weren’t “ready for us to serve them in that area,” co-CEO Joey Zwillinger told CNBC.

While testifying on Capitol Hill yesterday, Norfolk Southern CEO Alan H. Shaw said he was “deeply sorry” for the company’s early February train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, that spilled hazardous chemicals into the surrounding soil and killed nearly 45,000 animals. In front of an antagonistic Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, Shaw outlined the company’s efforts to restore the area.

According to Shaw, Norfolk Southern has committed more than $21 million to East Palestine and provided financial support to 4,400 families. However, Shaw notably didn’t promise to pay for the long-term medical costs of residents or economic damage to the area.

Senators also chided Shaw for declining to endorse bipartisan rail safety legislation introduced last week by Ohio Senators Sherrod Brown and JD Vance.

Bad timing: Another Norfolk Southern train derailed in Alabama hours before the hearing. About 30 train cars jumped the track, according to a local news release, but no injuries or hazardous spills were reported. It marks the third major derailment since early February for Norfolk Southern.

Looking ahead…the National Transportation Safety Board said earlier this week that it opened a special investigation into safety practices at Norfolk Southern. The company’s accident rate jumped 81% between 2013 and 2022, according to Politico.—MK

When you open Spotify today to blast Miley Cyrus’s new album of breakup bops and future karaoke picks, the app might look a little different. The audio streamer has redesigned its mobile app and—surprise—it kind of looks like TikTok.

The most drastic changes include vertical, TikTok-like discovery feeds for music, podcasts, and audiobooks that let you scroll through previews of each type of content.

• Spotify also introduced a “Smart Shuffle” mode for premium subscribers that recommends new songs for your queue if you are listening to a playlist.
• Once you finish a podcast episode, similar podcasts will autoplay.

With its TikTokification, Spotify joins the ranks of Reddit, Netflix, Instagram, and YouTube, which have all doubled down on people’s desire to only see bite-sized versions of everything while using their phones. Some new features started rolling out Wednesday, and the company announced that more will come online soon.

Big picture: Spotify said these changes amount to the app’s biggest revamp ever and are intended to help users discover new music and let artists showcase their work in front of potential fans. The glow-up comes less than a month after Spotify introduced the AI DJ feature to its app.—MM

Stat: The frequently mocked search engine Bing has cleared 100 million daily active users, Microsoft’s head of consumer marketing wrote in a blog post. The search engine got a “little bit of a boost” after launching its AI-powered Bing Chat feature a month ago, but it’s also benefited from Microsoft pushing it hard on users via its Edge browser. We’re still far from everyone saying “Bing it,” though—Google has more than 1 billion daily active users.

Quote: “We have decided to turn over those who were directly involved and responsible in the events.”

The Mexican drug cartel blamed for kidnapping four American tourists and killing two of them has apologized. In a letter claiming to be written by the Scorpions faction of the Gulf cartel, the authors regretted the violence and said they handed over the perpetrators to authorities. Cartels have been known to turn on the PR machine whenever they sense a threat to their business operations, according to the AP, which obtained the letter.

Read: Why a Vanderpump Rules breakup is the Red Wedding of reality TV. (Polygon)

The feeling of getting a 5/5 on the Brew’s Weekly News Quiz has been compared to a cold shower after hot yoga.

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Conversation starter: Where does your city fall on this graph?

AI detractors: Read this Op-Ed from Noam Chomsky and others about the “false promise of ChatGPT.”

Oh yeah: A video showcasing the most iconic “yeah”s in pop music.

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Finance bros are out, rich girls are in. Katie Gatti knows about money and is here to help you manifest your financial freedom. Join Katie and her guests as they talk about spending habits, smart investing, and tax strategies—without putting you to sleep. Check out some of her most popular episodes:

• Think you might owe the IRS in April? Here are 3 easy ways to lower your tax bill.
• Where’s the millennial middle class?
• Upgrading your lifestyle: realistic, targeted financial goal-setting.

This editorial content is supported by TaxAct.

Picodku: If you haven’t tried Picdoku yet, it’s like sudoku…just with pictures. Today’s pictures are of wildflowers. Check it out.

Friday puzzle

Here’s a clever word puzzle from NPR:

Name a branch of scientific study. Drop the last letter. Then rearrange the remaining letters to name two subjects of that study. What branch of science is it?

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