NEW YORK—United States President Barack Obama on Thursday unveiled a massive $3.55 trillion budget for next year. The budget will peg the federal deficit at $17.5 trillion, representing 12.3% of the country’s GDP. That number creates a deficit that will be the highest for the nation since World War II.
The president, surrounded by Vice President Joe Biden, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, and his other top financial advisors, announced the budget on Thursday morning.
Talking about the budget, Obama repeated some of the lines he has used throughout his presidential election trail. “There are some hard choices that lie ahead ... We’re going to go through our books, page-by-page, line-by-line to eliminate waste and inefficiency.”
The budget proposes an additional $750 billion to bail out Wall Street banks. This is in addition to the $700 billion that has already been earmarked for the financial giants, resulting in what might become a $1.5 trillion dollar bailout.
Healthcare change will draw from a $634 billion “reserve fund” set up for this purpose. Half of that amount would come from Medicare savings, cuts for the wealthy. The other half of the healthcare budget would come from a rollback of the Bush-era tax reductions on households earning more than $250,000 a year.
Obama underscored the importance of healthcare. In his speech, he said, “We must make it a priority to give every single American quality, affordable health care.”
Obama also announced for tax cuts on the other end of the spectrum, reducing taxes for lower- and middle-income taxpayers by around $770.1 billion over 10 years.
The Obama administration is also trying to cut down the costs for the war over the long term. The budget did detail a small increase in military spending, to $534 billion, and the White House announced that it would ask Congress for an additional $75 billion for the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.
In addition to the rollback on the Bush tax cuts for the wealthier taxpayers, the budget also involves cutting back on subsidies for wealthier farmers and cutting intermediary costs for student loans.
The president, surrounded by Vice President Joe Biden, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, and his other top financial advisors, announced the budget on Thursday morning.
Talking about the budget, Obama repeated some of the lines he has used throughout his presidential election trail. “There are some hard choices that lie ahead ... We’re going to go through our books, page-by-page, line-by-line to eliminate waste and inefficiency.”
The budget proposes an additional $750 billion to bail out Wall Street banks. This is in addition to the $700 billion that has already been earmarked for the financial giants, resulting in what might become a $1.5 trillion dollar bailout.
Healthcare change will draw from a $634 billion “reserve fund” set up for this purpose. Half of that amount would come from Medicare savings, cuts for the wealthy. The other half of the healthcare budget would come from a rollback of the Bush-era tax reductions on households earning more than $250,000 a year.
Obama underscored the importance of healthcare. In his speech, he said, “We must make it a priority to give every single American quality, affordable health care.”
Obama also announced for tax cuts on the other end of the spectrum, reducing taxes for lower- and middle-income taxpayers by around $770.1 billion over 10 years.
The Obama administration is also trying to cut down the costs for the war over the long term. The budget did detail a small increase in military spending, to $534 billion, and the White House announced that it would ask Congress for an additional $75 billion for the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.
In addition to the rollback on the Bush tax cuts for the wealthier taxpayers, the budget also involves cutting back on subsidies for wealthier farmers and cutting intermediary costs for student loans.
