“The plan would be funded by a new $10.25 per barrel fee on oil paid by oil companies, which would be phased in over five years”, the White House 2017 budget proposal said.
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Now he puts forth a budget for the 2017 fiscal year, which begins October 1, that calls for $4.15 trillion in spending, a $223 billion increase over the current year’s budget. “We understand that not everything is going to actually get taken up and passed this year, but we’re sort of laying the groundwork and putting out solutions that are sort of long term”, an unnamed Obama administration official told The New York Times.
But having the national budget – and the funds for Colombia – approved will prove hard.
Ryan also pledged that House Republicans would produce a budget that does reach balance in coming weeks.
“The Department of Justice is committed to ensuring the safety of our communities and the strength of our nation and the resources laid out in President Obama’s budget are vital to our efforts”, Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch said in a statement.
However, with the Republicans urging severe government spending cuts, an increase in aid to Colombia faces a far from certain future approval.
The budget unveiled Tuesday projects revenue to increase by $308 billion next year and spending to increase by $196 billion. Republicans have already slammed the idea, saying it would raise the price of gas and hurt jobs.
The document is an opening offer in what will be the Obama administration’s last budget negotiation with Congress after years of bitter fights over deficits and taxes.
The proposal would raise $319 billion over 10 years.
“In 2016, we will make it our goal to pass all 12 appropriation bills through regular order”, Ryan said back in December, laying out his plans for the year ahead.
While Obama’s eight and final budget proposal projects the US economy would grow by 2.5 percent during the next decade.
“The budget we are releasing today reflects my priorities and the priorities I believe will help advance the security and prosperity of America”, Obama said.
Obama said last week that the tax revenues would be used to invest in research and development of clean energy technologies and to improve transportation infrastructure to help wean the country away from its dependence on oil.
It seeks to cut deficits by $2.9 trillion over 10 years largely through smaller tax breaks for wealthy earners, new savings in Medicare healthcare, and assumptions that adoption of its policies on immigration reform and other areas would boost economic growth.
The budget deal set Pentagon spending at $583 billion for 2017. The plan includes raising the top tax rate on capital gains, requiring millionaires to pay at least 30 percent of their income in taxes and raising the tax on oil.
The president would like to add another $434 million for Head Start programs so more kids can attend the program on a full-time basis throughout the year. The chairs of both the House and Senate budget committees announced Thursday that they would not hold a hearing with the Office of Management and Budget’s director Shaun Donovan – a move Congress hasn’t made in decades.
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Obama’s budget also calls for almost $1 billion in federal funding for cancer research, including $680 million for the Bethesda-based National Institutes of Health.
