President Obama Sends Budget Proposal for 2016 Fiscal Year to Congress
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Official White House Photo by Pete Souza(WASHINGTON) — President Obama sent his budget proposal for the 2016 fiscal year to Congress on Monday, featuring a number of initiatives, including nearly half a trillion dollars for public works.
Many of the larger items in the proposed budget were concepts Obama had announced leading up to and in his State of the Union address: free community college, a $3,000 tax credit per-child for middle-class families, increasing the top capital gains rate and more infrastructure spending. On Monday, the White House released new details about the budget proposal.
The president’s proposed budget carries a $474 billion deficit, which falls at about 2.5 percent of the U.S.’ gross domestic product. A senior administration official said that the White House’s goal has been to present budgets with deficits under three percent.
The proposal would also end sequestration in military and non-military discretionary accounts while bringing defense spending up from $523 billion to $561 billion.
The White House says the proposal “is designed to bring middle class economics into the 21st Century” and show “what we can do if we invest in America’s future and commit to an economy that rewards hard work, generates rising incomes, and allows everyone to share in the prosperity of a growing America.”
Also included in Obama’s proposal are a plan to tax U.S. companies’ overseas profits at a minimum of 19 percent and plans for $400 billion in mandatory reforms to existing programs and $650 billion in deficit reduction.
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