Record spending, taxes on banks and a squeeze on the wealthiest: Obama sends final budget to Congress - where GOP says it's dead in the water ALREADY

  • President proposes spending $4.1 trillion - biggest amount in history
  • War on cancer, measures against global warming and ISIS all in plan
  • Spending to be funded by taxes on banks and the wealthiest
  • But Republicans refuse to even hear from his top official on the plan

President Barack Obama is sending Congress his eighth and final budget, proposing to spend a record $4.1 trillion on a number of initiatives.

They include launching a new war on cancer, combating global warming and fighting growing threats from ISIS terrorists.

The new spending plan, for the budget year that begins on 1 October - just three and a half months before he leaves office - is facing heavy fire from Republicans who hope to capture the White House in November elections. 

The proposal had dim prospects of winning approval in a Republican-controlled Congress.

The GOP has already refused to hear testimony from the president's top budget official, Politico reported, indicating that there is no interest in an immediate deal.

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Liberal spending list: President Obama, who met Italian president Sergio Mattarella, in the Oval Office yesterday, has spent a tax and spend budget to Congress

Liberal spending list: President Obama, who met Italian president Sergio Mattarella, in the Oval Office yesterday, has spent a tax and spend budget to Congress

A Capitol Hill staff member holds a copy of President Barack Obama's fiscal 2017 federal budget after it is delivered to the House Budget Committee Room on Capitol Hill

A Capitol Hill staff member holds a copy of President Barack Obama's fiscal 2017 federal budget after it is delivered to the House Budget Committee Room on Capitol Hill

Ths is going to go smoothly then: Copies of President Barack Obama's final fiscal 2017 budget proposal are staged for display by Eric Euland, staff director for Mike Enzi, the Republican chairman of the Senate Budget Committee - with the signs behind spelling out exactly what the Republicans think

Ths is going to go smoothly then: Copies of President Barack Obama's final fiscal 2017 budget proposal are staged for display by Eric Euland, staff director for Mike Enzi, the Republican chairman of the Senate Budget Committee - with the signs behind spelling out exactly what the Republicans think

Copies of the President Barack Obama's fiscal 2017 federal budget are delivered to the House Budget Committee Room on Capitol Hill

Copies of the President Barack Obama's fiscal 2017 federal budget are delivered to the House Budget Committee Room on Capitol Hill

In all, Obama's budget would increase taxes by $2.6 trillion over the coming decade, nearly double the $1.4 trillion in new taxes Obama sought and failed to achieve in last year's budget.

Republicans made their feelings clear in Congress today, with copies of the new budget proposal being displayed in front of signs saying 'more taxes', 'more spending' and 'more deficit'.

The plan will have to be dealt with in some form by 30 September to avoid a government shutdown.

But legislators and the White House would be able to strike a deal for a short-term continuation of spending without agreement on the main Obama proposals.

Those represent a wish-list of liberal priorities which have generated fierce conservative opposition each time they have been presented to Congress.

Among the most politically-loaded measures are more pre-K grants, expanding childcare, wind and solar energy incentives, high-speed rail spending - which has been consistently blocked - cash for poorer countries to mitigate the effects of what the White House says is man-made climate change, and a tax hike on crude oil. 

Republican lawmakers said Obama's proposal to impose a $10 per barrel tax on crude oil to bring in an additional $319 billion over the next decade had no chance of winning approval in Congress. Obama's budget would use that money to fund billions of dollars in alternative transportation programs as part of efforts to deal with global warming.

'This isn't even a budget so much as it is a progressive manual for growing the federal government at the expense of hardworking Americans,' said House Speaker Paul Ryan.

Even with the increased taxes, Obama's budget projects sharply higher deficits in coming years, totaling $9.8 trillion over the next decade.

Much of the problem relates to the surge in spending on the government's big benefit programs of Social Security and Medicare, which are forecast to soar with the retirement of millions of baby boomers.

The budget sees the economy growing at a 2.6 percent rate this year, though administration officials noted that projection was finalized in November, prior to the recent stock market slide. Inflation would remain low, registering a 1.5 percent gain this year. 

WHAT'S IN THEIR WALLETS? OBAMA'S PLANS TO SPEND (AND CUT)

AGRICULTURE

Up or down? Down 5.3 percent

Highlight:

Obama's budget for the Agriculture Department includes a proposed $12 billion over 10 years to help feed schoolchildren from low-income families during the summer. Nearly 22 million low-income children receive free and reduced-price meals during the school year, but just a fraction of those kids receive meals when school is out. Benefits under the proposed program would be loaded onto a debit card that can only be used for food at grocery stores.

Total spending: $155.4 billion, including spending already required by law for food stamps, other government nutrition programs and farm subsidies.

Spending that needs Congress' annual approval: $24.2 billion.

Priced in: The F-35 Lightning II procurement is part of the proposed budget which is slowing down overall purchases of equipment

Priced in: The F-35 Lightning II procurement is part of the proposed budget which is slowing down overall purchases of equipment

DEFENSE

Up or down? Up .6 percent

Highlight:

The Pentagon's proposed 2017 budget, while largely flat, includes increased spending to support European and Eastern European nations against Russian aggression and beefs up spending to counter Islamic State and affiliated militants across Iraq, Syria and Africa.

The proposal would quadruple the amount spent to reassure European nations, with $3.4 billion earmarked for increased military exercises, troop rotations and pre-positioning of equipment. The department also is asking for $200 million to fund counterterror operations in North and West Africa, including Libya.

The budget would slow plans to buy fighter jets, Army helicopters and Marine vehicles, but would increase money for cybersecurity and cutting edge technologies. It would fund a 1.6 percent pay raise for troops and civilians.

Total spending: $649.9 billion

Spending that needs Congress' annual approval: $582 billion, including $58.8 billion for military operations in Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan and Africa. 

ENERGY DEPARTMENT

Up or down? Up 6.8 percent

Highlight:

As part of a pledge following the 2015 Paris climate summit to double spending on clean energy research and development by 2021, the budget would spend $7.7 billion government-wide for a range of clean energy investments, including $5.8 billion in the Energy Department. The figure is a 20 percent increase over current spending money and includes more than $2 billion to boost energy efficiency and renewable energy such as wind, solar and geothermal power.

Total spending: $30.8 billion

Spending that needs Congress' annual approval: $30.2 billion 

Cash for water infrastructure is in the plan after the scandal of lead contamination in Flint, Michigan 

Cash for water infrastructure is in the plan after the scandal of lead contamination in Flint, Michigan 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

Up or down? 

Up 5.5 percent

Highlight:

In the aftermath of the water-contamination crisis in Flint, Michigan, Obama's proposed budget shifts money intended for water infrastructure projects. Overall, the budget cuts $257 million from the Clean Water and Drinking Water State Revolving Loan Funds, reducing total funding to $2 billion for 2017. However, within that larger pool of money, the funds available to provide financial assistance to public water systems is going up $158 million, or about 20 percent. The White House also said it would support earmarking money specifically to help Flint fix its poisoned water in the upcoming energy bill.

Total spending: $8.6 billion

Spending that needs Congress' annual approval: $8.3 billion.

HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Up or down? Up 3 percent

Highlight:

Responding to an epidemic of heroin addiction and abuse of prescription painkillers, Obama's budget would provide $1 billion in new funding over the next two years for states to help more people get and complete treatment. The money would be allocated to states based on the severity of the epidemic and the strength of their strategy. The budget also includes $500 million in new funding to increase access to treatment for people with serious mental health problems.

Total spending: $1.15 trillion

Spending that needs Congress' annual approval: $78 billion.

INTERIOR

Up or down? Up 13.6 percent

Highlight:

The budget would double— to $900 million — spending for the Land and Water Conservation Fund, a program that allows governments at all levels to buy land for parks and recreation and protect public lands, historic sites and battlefields. The budget calls for spending on the conservation fund to be mandatory starting in the budget year that begins in October 2017. The president's plan is likely to face opposition from congressional Republicans who have long argued that the federal government struggles to adequately maintain land it already owns.

Total spending: $15.9 billion

Spending that needs Congress' annual approval: $13.2 billion

Funding cut: NASA is down 1.3 per cent - and with a 17 per cent cut in manned exploration funding

Funding cut: NASA is down 1.3 per cent - and with a 17 per cent cut in manned exploration funding

NASA

Up or down? Down 1.3 percent

Highlight:

Obama's proposed NASA budget includes a 17 percent cut in spending on human exploration from $4 billion to $3.3 billion. It includes $100 million in a proposed new program to reduce heat-trapping carbon dioxide emissions from airplanes.

Total spending: $19 billion.

Spending that needs Congress' annual approval: $18.3 billion

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Up or down? Up 11 percent

Highlight:

Obama's trying one last time to boost the budget of a primary Wall Street regulator, allowing it to inspect investment advisers more frequently and pursue more enforcement actions. Though the SEC's budgets come out of Wall Street user fees and end up earning the government money in the form of fines, Congress has regularly stymied budget increases for both the SEC and its fellow regulator, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

Total spending: $1.8 billion

Spending that needs Congress' annual approval: $1.8 billion

Battling ISIS: $4 billion is being proposed for spending on the crisis created by its rise

Battling ISIS: $4 billion is being proposed for spending on the crisis created by its rise

STATE 

Up or down? Down 3.7 percent

Highlight:

Much of the money is reserved for major State Department efforts such as fighting the Islamic State and meeting the security and humanitarian needs stemming from Syria's civil war. This includes more than $4 billion to stabilize communities liberated from the extremists and to counter ISIS terrorist plots, financing and recruiting. Other priorities include stemming illegal immigration from Central America, and various global health and climate change initiatives. Embassy security gets $6.1 billion. Almost $1 billion is devoted to countering 'Russian aggression.' 

Total spending: $57.4 billion

Spending that needs Congress' annual approval: $52.2 billion.

TRANSPORTATION

Up or down? Up 25.8 percent

Highlight:

Obama's 21st Century Clean Transportation Plan includes $400 million a year for 10 years to help speed the deployment of self-driving vehicles, $10 billion a year to boost construction of new transit projects and $7 billion a year on high-speed rail projects. Congress has previously rejected new money for high-speed rail.

Total spending: $95.4 billion, including spending already required by law on highway and transit aid to states.

Spending that needs Congress' annual approval: $12 billion

VETERANS AFFAIRS

Up or down? Up 9.1 percent

Highlight:

The budget proposes $65 billion for medical care at nearly 1,300 VA facilities nationwide serving about 9.1 million enrolled veterans. The figure represents a 6.3 percent increase over current spending. The plan also would authorize $7.2 billion for medical care for veterans treated by local doctors, as directed by the 2014 Veterans Choice Act. Non-VA providers are expected to perform about 15.6 million medical procedures for veterans in the budget year that begins in October.

Total spending: $178.7 billion

Spending that needs Congress' annual approval: $75.1 billion 

 

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