Congress Unlikely to Pass Obama Fiscal Year 2016 Budget: Republican Party Members, Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan Attack Plan
President Barack Obama seemed to take a cue from psychological pricing on Monday when he sent Congress a $3.99 trillion budget that is unlikely to pass the Republican-controlled branch. The proposal calls for new tax credits for education, child care, paid leave and infrastructure. It would also result in tax hikes resulting from the closure of loopholes.
The budget, which the president claimed was "designed to bring middle class economics into the 21st century," includes a $478 billion public-works infrastructure program for roads, bridges and transit systems, which would be paid for by taxing overseas earnings, USA Today reports. It would end sequestration -- the automatic, across-the-board spending imposed after a failed 2013 budget deal.
"[Obama's proposal] invests in helping working families make their paychecks go further, preparing hardworking Americans to earn higher wages, and creating the infrastructure that allows businesses to thrive and create good, high-paying jobs," the White House said in a statement.
Republicans in Congress, however, attacked the budget's tax hikes and high-spending programs even before they were officially announced.
On Sunday,Wisconsin's Paul Ryan, the GOP's 2012 vice presidential nominee, slammed Obama's approach as "envy economics."
"It may make for good politics," the representative said. "(But) it doesn't make for good economic growth."
House Budget Committee Chairman Tom Price similarly told Fox News he was not impressed.
"It seems to be more of the same policies that have resulted in the lowest, slowest economic recovery out of an economic downturn in the history of the country -- more taxes, more spending, more borrowing," the Georgia congressman said.
The president's budget would leave a deficit of $474 billion, a figure that would rise to $687 billion in 2025 if his proposals were implemented, the conservative news organization calculated. The administration, however, believes higher taxes and lower spending would cut deficits by about $1.8 trillion over the next decade and leave the gap at manageable levels.
Obama acknowledged his budget would face congressional opposition.
"There are going to be areas where we get big disagreements, but what I want us to focus on is the areas ... we have in common," Obama said on NBC's "Today" show.
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