Shortly after getting Congress to pass his economic stimulus bill, worth $787 billion, Barack Obama has again presented Congress with his plan for the federal budget for next year. Under our constitutional system, the President has the responsibility to make the budget, but Congress must debate its proposals, amend it if they choose, and then vote on the final package. While the current version of Obama’s 2010 budget, worth $3.6 trillion, $1.2 trillion being borrowed, is not likely to stay in its current form, it nevertheless gives us insight into his presidential priorities and where he would like to take the country.
Not surprisingly, Obama’s budget, which combines new federal spending into education and healthcare programs along with tax increases on America’s wealthy and oil and gas industries, has provoked conservative opposition. It is for this reason that this brief is being written as the controversy over this budget is bound to follow extempers throughout the coming month, a month when state tournaments are on the horizon.
This brief will break down what Obama’s budget contains, criticisms of the budget (along with some arguments about why these criticisms are wrong), and the impacts this budget could have for America.