President Obama today sent Congress a $3.9 trillion budget for Fiscal Year 2015, a plan focused on plans to boost spending on infrastructure projects and job creation to help spur new economic growth.
"It's a road map for creating jobs with good wages and expanding opportunity for all Americans," Mr. Obama said of his budget, which was sent to Congress a month late.
"The budget is not just about numbers, it's about values - and it's about our future," Mr. Obama added.
Not surprisingly, Republicans saw the plan in a completely different manner, labeling it a budget that falls far short of what's needed for economic growth.
"This budget isn't a serious document; it's a campaign brochure," said Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI), Chairman of the House Budget Committee.
You can read through the President's 220 page budget submission on the White House website.
The much more detailed - line by line - budget submission (1,438 pages) is also on line today as well.
Budget Deficit
The President's budget would have an estimated deficit of $564 billion in 2015; it would drop to $531 billion in 2016 and as far down as $413 billion in 2018 - but after that it goes up and never balances through 2024.
For comparison, in last year's budget, the Obama Administration estimated a deficit of $744 billion - it turned out to be $680 billion.
For the current fiscal year, the White House estimates the deficit will drop from $680 billion to $649 billion.
Here are the White House figures for the deficit:
2013 (actual) - $680 billion
2014 (estimate)- $649 billion
2015 - $564 billion
2016 - $531 billion
2017 - $458 billion
2018 - $413 billion
2019 - $503 billion
2020 - $512 billion
2021 - $504 billion
2022 - $530 billion
2023 - $482 billion
2024 - $434 billion
Those figures indicate this Obama budget would increase the federal debt by $4.93 trillion through 2024.
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