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Obama Sends $3.7 Trillion Budget to Congress

   VOA News  February 14, 2011
   President Barack Obama, flanked by US Education Secretary Arne Duncan,
   left,  and  Office of Management and Budget Director Jacob Lew, right,
   speaks  at  Parkville  Middle  School  and  Center  of  Technology, in
   Parkville, Maryland, February 14, 2011

Photo: AP

   President Barack Obama, flanked by US Education Secretary Arne Duncan,
   left,  and  Office of Management and Budget Director Jacob Lew, right,
   speaks  at  Parkville  Middle  School  and  Center  of  Technology, in
   Parkville, Maryland, February 14, 2011

   U.S.  President  Barack  Obama  says  his proposed 2012 federal budget
   reflects the need to start taking responsibility for federal deficits,
   but Republicans are saying it does not go far enough.
   Mr.  Obama  sent his budget plan to Congress Monday, proposing to trim
   deficits by $1.1 trillion in the next decade.
   The  top  Republican  in  the  House of Representatives, John Boehner,
   criticized  the  proposal,  saying it continues a "spending binge" and
   will  cause  more economic uncertainty and destroy jobs.  He says the
   new  Republican  House  majority  will  vote  this week to cut tens of
   billions  of  dollars  in  discretionary  spending over the next seven
   months.
   Mr.  Obama  said at a school in ((the eastern state of)) Maryland that
   his  $3.7  trillion budget is on the path to meet his campaign promise
   of  cutting  the  U.S.  deficit in half by the end of his current term
   ((2013)). Â
   Republicans want domestic spending at the 2008 levels, the year before
   Mr.  Obama  took office, and have called for major cuts in many areas,
   including  environmental  protection, medical research and U.S. border
   enforcement.  Â
   Republicans  control  the  House  of  Representatives  and Mr. Obama's
   Democrats retain control of the Senate, making for what is expected to
   be a protracted partisan battle over federal spending.
   Mr.  Obama  said  Monday his budget includes cuts on programs he cares
   deeply  about  as  well  as  "essential"  investments  in  innovation,
   education, high-speed rail and high-speed Internet.
   It  aims  to  cut  the  deficit  by $400 billion in the next decade by
   freezing  annual  domestic  spending.  It also proposes reductions or
   terminations  for  more  than 200 federal programs at a savings of $33
   billion,  as  well  as trimming energy subsidies for the poor and some
   infrastructure programs.
   The  proposal  includes a $78 billion cut in defense spending over the
   next  five  years,  while  calling  for  spending  of $671 billion for
   defense  in  2012  --  which  is  by  far the world's largest military
   budget.
   On unemployment, the budget predicts it to drop to 8.6 percent by next
   year, an improvement over the more than 9 percent rate seen in 2011.
   Mr.  Obama is also seeking to increase revenues by reducing tax breaks
   for the wealthiest Americans. Â
   A  White House-appointed deficit commission recommended $4 trillion in
   savings  with  cuts  to  such  social  programs as the Social Security
   pension  system  and  Medicare health insurance for the elderly.  The
   president did not include those cuts in his proposal.
   The  federal  government is currently operating on a temporary funding
   measure  that  expires  early  next  month,  as  Congress  has not yet
   approved a budget for fiscal year 2011.

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