WASHINGTON: Congressional Democrats moved yesterday to slim down President Barack Obama’s 2010 budget request amid bipartisan worries that the his plan could make the US deficit balloon with new federal spending.
Launching a battle in which Obama has already said he will not get all he wants, House of Representatives Budget Committee Democrats outlined a $3.45 trillion budget for fiscal 2010 that begins on Oct. 1 — slightly below Obama’s proposed $3.55 trillion plan.
“I’m confident that with the leadership of the speaker and (Senate Majority Leader) Harry Reid we are going to get our budget with all the major elements intact,” Vice President Joe Biden, flanked by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, told reporters.
Obama will personally lobby Senate Democrats for his budget, which he said on Tuesday was “inseparable” from his broader effort to pull the US economy out of recession.
Obama must walk a fine line promoting his priorities while not upsetting fellow Democrats who could scuttle them.
The House plan does not extend his signature middle-class tax cut of $800 for couples and $400 for individuals beyond 2010. The House plan also does not include the $125 billion marker Obama requested for financial bailouts in 2010, amid outrage about big bonuses firms have paid out.
But House Democrats did include broad instructions backing Obama’s bid to reform the $2.5 trillion health care system to cover some 46 million uninsured Americans.
Including it in the budget would give it privileged status, making it easier to become law. It also creates several reserve funds, including those for health care and moving toward greater energy independence, but requires that they do not increase the deficit.
The Senate Budget Committee was also to start discussing its version of the budget yesterday. The plan also does not extend the middle class tax cut from the stimulus package approved last month, according to the committee’s summary.
Republicans have criticized Obama’s budget for too much spending and large tax increases on the wealthy.
They pointed to the Congressional Budget Office’s analysis that showed the president’s budget would balloon the deficit by $9.3 trillion over the next decade.