President Obama's new budget for the next fiscal year does not get the country to a balanced budget at any point in the ten year fiscal blueprint that was delivered to the Congress today.
The budget figures show an estimated deficit next year of $1.09 trillion; that drops to $846 billion in 2013 and $770 billion in 2014, but the deficit never drops below that latter level in projections out to 2021.
First, let's go through some of the highlights for each Cabinet department and a few well known agencies.
* Agriculture - gets $23.9 billion, a cut of $3.2 billion
* Commerce - $8.8 billion, with cuts linked to no Census funding
* Defense - basic budget is $553 billion, but real funding is over $650 billion
* Education - $77.4 billion budget is up 11%
* Energy - $29.5 billion is a 12% increase over 2010
* HHS - Health & Human Services gets $79.9 billion, a slight increase
* Homeland Security - $43.2 billion, up $309 million
* HUD - Housing & Urban Development gets $48 billion, up $900 million
* Interior - $12 billion budget is about the same level
* Justice - $28.2 billion is a 2% increase
* Labor - $12.8 billion is a 5% cut
* State - State Department/foreign gets $47 billion, up 1%
* Transportation - $13.4 billion is down $1.3 billion
* Treasury - $14 billion is up 4%
* Veterans Affairs - $61.85 billion up 10.6%
* NASA - $18.7 billion, the same as 2010
* EPA - $9 billion, down $1.3 billion
* NSF - National Science Foundation gets $7.8 billion, up 13%
Those are the headlines for each major department that you might be familiar with. There is a lot more detail in the four phone-book-sized volumes that were issued today by the Obama Administration.
As for tax provisions, there are a lot of them in this budget. Let's see if we can hit some of the highlights. All figures mentioned here are over a 10 year period.
First, we start with "Tax Cuts for Families and Individuals":
* Extend earned income tax credit for larger families - $12.3 billion
* Expand child & dependent care tax credit - $9.6 billion
* Automatic enrollment in IRA's, plus - $14.3 billion
* Extend American opportunity tax credit - $93.5 billion
* Increase tax on cap gains/dividens for top earners - $123 billion
Next, "Tax Cuts for Businesses."
Enhance/make permanent research tax credit - $106 billion
Extra tax credits for advanced energy investment - $3.6 billion
The plan would also pay for three years of relief dealing with the Alternative Minimum Tax by reducing the value of certain tax expenditures, with a price tag of $321.2 billion over ten years.
"Other Revenue Changes and Loophole Closers:"
* Financial Crisis Responsibility Fee on banks - $30 billion
* Reinstate Superfund taxes - $20.8 billion
* Make Unemployment Insurance surtax permanent - $15 billion
* Repeal LIFO method of accounting - $52.8 billion
* Reform US international tax system - $129.2 billion
* Reform treatment of insurance companies/products - $7.6 billion
* Eliminate tax breaks for coal industry - $2.6 billion
* Eliminate oil and gas industry breaks - $43 billion
* Tax carried profits as ordinary income - $14.8 billion
* Improve business tax compliance - $8.7 billion
The total of what the White House calls "revenue changes and loophole closers" is $356.4 billion over ten years.
As for the deficit, here is the true test of any budget plan when you consider the current fiscal condition of the United States - estimated deficits for the next ten years:
2011 - $1.597 trillion
2012 - $1.090 trillion
2013 - $846 billion
2014 - $770 billion
2015 - $841 billion
2016 - $938 billion
2017 - $890 billion
2018 - $891 billion
2019 - $960 billion
2020 - $1.045 trillion
2021 - $1.116 trillion
So, there is your quick look at the budget. I will keep trying to see what else I can find. The raw numbers are always much more important to look at than the words which go along with it from an administration or the Congress that reacts to it.
President Obama's new budget for the next fiscal year does not get the country to a balanced budget at any point in the ten year fiscal blueprint that was delivered to the Congress today. The budget figures show an estimated deficit next year of $1.09 trillion; that drops to $846 ...
