Obama Unveils $3.8T Budget, Targets Rich

Budget would institute 'Buffett Rule,' boost infrastructure
By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 13, 2012 11:52 AM CST
Obama Unveils $3.8T Budget, Targets Rich
Congressional staffer Kathleen Llewellyn hands out copies of US President Barack Obama's FY2013 Budget after it was delivered to Congress February 13, 2012 on Capitol Hill.   (Getty Images)

President Obama officially unveiled his $3.8 trillion budget today, and as expected it draws a 2012 battle line, calling for higher taxes on the wealthy combined with spending measures intended to bolster the economy, the AP reports. "We built this budget around the idea that our country has always done best when everyone gets a fair shot, everyone does their fair share, and everyone plays by the same rules," Obama said, according to CNN. "This is not about class warfare. This is about the nation's welfare."

  • Obama's budget would institute the so-called "Buffett Rule," replacing the Alternative Minimum Tax with a 30% rate on income above $1 million. It would also bump the capital gains tax rate up to 20%, and allow Bush-era tax cuts for the wealthy to expire.
  • Obama unveiled the budget in a speech at Northern Virginia Community College, where he focused on a proposal to spend $8 billion boosting community colleges, Bloomberg reports.
  • Obama estimates that under his budget the deficit would rise to $1.3 trillion in 2012, before falling to $901 billion in 2013. But the Wall Street Journal points out that Obama used cautious economic forecasts, ignoring recent employment gains.
  • Republicans naturally bashed the budget for failing to address fiscal issues. "It seems like the president has decided again to campaign instead of govern," said Paul Ryan.
  • For more on the budget particulars, click here.
(More Barack Obama stories.)

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