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 AFSCME LEGISLATIVE REPORT
February 17, 2012

The Obama Budget: A Blueprint for an Economy Built to Last President Obama submitted to Congress his proposed budget for Fiscal Year (FY) 2013, calling it “a blueprint for an economy that is built to last – one built on American manufacturing, American energy, skills for American workers, and a renewal of American values.” To further his goal of a sustainable economy that shifts the focus away from deficits and towards jobs, the Obama budget calls for increased investments in top domestic priorities, more progressive tax policies, as well as making a down payment on reducing the deficit.

The $3.8 trillion Obama budget plan makes job creation and sustaining the economic recovery its top priority by calling for important investments in community colleges, job training, infrastructure, manufacturing, and research and development. The budget acknowledges the tight spending caps imposed by Congress last summer, and while some federal programs would experience increases, others would be flat-funded or sustain cuts if the plan were to be implemented."

The budget plan calls for $1.5 trillion in increased taxes over 10 years, including imposing new taxes on the wealthy and eliminating many corporate tax loopholes to generate much needed revenues. It includes expiration of the Bush tax cuts for top earners, an increase in estate taxes, and higher tax rates on investment income by implementing the “Buffet rule,” which would ensure that wealthy investors like Warren Buffet pay at least the same tax rate as their secretaries.

The Obama budget makes a down payment on reducing the deficit over time, cutting it from $1.3 trillion in FY 2012 to $704 billion in FY 2022. As a percentage of the Gross Domestic Product, the deficit would fall from 8.5% to 2.8% over the same period. The President’s budget also counts more than $800 billion in savings from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and uses the money for new domestic investments. As a result of the increased revenues and savings, it avoids the need for harmful across-the-board spending cuts that would otherwise come in January 2013.

Congressional Republicans immediately panned the Obama budget plan, calling it a “charade” and "campaign document." AFSCME President Gerald W. McEntee said the Obama budget is right to put jobs and the middle class first, and criticized Republican leaders who threw a temper tantrum “in an attempt to distract voters.” Both houses of Congress are expected to turn their attention to advancing their own budget plans, which will be produced by the House and Senate Budget Committees, although Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) has said no Senate vote is expected this year on a Senate budget. The House is expected to produce a budget similar to Budget Chairman Paul Ryan’s (R-WI) draconian budget that it approved last year.