Obama Unveils $3.8T Budget Proposal

Barack Obama sent Congress a budget proposal today that would push the deficit to $1.56 trillion—its highest level in history. The budget would raise taxes on the wealthy and freeze spending on a host of government programs, but calls for spending $100 billion on job creation, including tax breaks to encourage businesses to hire and government spending on infrastructure projects.

Obama decried “what can only be described as a decade of profligacy,” and called on lawmakers to follow his lead and reduce “waste in programs I care about.” The proposal would push 2010 spending to $3.72 trillion, and 2011 spending to $3.83 trillion. Republicans decried its tax cuts and deficit expansion, but the administration argues that it inherited a trillion-dollar deficit, and has been forced to keep spending to stimulate the economy. (More Barack Obama stories.)