Prepare to hold onto your wallet as President Barack Obama sends a budget to Congress that would skyrocket the deficit for this fiscal year to an estimated $1.75 trillion dollars. I never thought this president would match the spending of former president George Bush, but that challenge appears to be one that Obama is willing to address.
The proposed budget would raise taxes on those he considers to be too wealthy and potentially spend hundreds of billions of dollars on “rescue” efforts in the financial industry on top of the nearly $800 billion already approved.
Obama wants to use the federal government to provide health insurance for some Americans, a plan that would be paid for with the $634 billion in savings that the administration claims is achievable by streamlining the health care industry – whatever that means. Others argue that cuts in Medicare are required in order to fund the multi-billion dollar endeavor, an issue that will surely incite fierce debate.
The president will also request an additional $75 billion – on top of the $40 billion already apportioned – to cover military action in Iraq and Afghanistan through the end of the current budget year. In 2010, Obama’s administration will request $130 billion to sustain the nation’s various Middle East wars.
Obama also plans to extend the tax cuts passed in 2001 and 2003 for couples earning less than $250,000 a year, along with raising income taxes on those making more than $250,000 a year to a marginal rate of nearly 40%, a increase of about 5 percent, along with minimizing the deductions available on tax returns.
Budget projections anticipate the trillion-dollar deficit to extend past 2012.
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