http://thehill.com/policy/finance/231356-obama-pushes-budget-in-weekly-addressBy Ian Swanson - 01/31/15 06:00 AM EST
President Obama cast his 2016 budget as an investment in middle-class economics in his weekly address on Saturday.
Underlining a theme introduced in his State of the Union address earlier this month, Obama argued the policies he’s proposed since the midterm election will contribute to rising wages and ensure that everyone gets a “fair shot” while doing their “fair share.”
“We’ll help working families’ paychecks go farther by treating things like paid leave and child care like the economic priorities that they are,” Obama said. “We’ll offer Americans of every age the chance to upgrade their skills so they can earn higher wages, with plans like making two years of community college free for every responsible student.
“And we’ll keep building the world’s most attractive economy for high-wage jobs, with new investments in research, infrastructure, manufacturing, and expanded access to faster internet and new markets,” Obama said.
Obama’s budget, to be offered on Monday, will call for new spending, breaking through by $74 billion the spending ceilings known as sequestration that were introduced as part of the 2011 deal to raise the debt ceiling.
While the nation is still projected to run a budget deficit of more than $450 billion this year, Obama argued that falling annual deficits mean his proposed investments are affordable.
“We just have to be smarter about how we pay for our priorities, and that’s what my budget does,” he said.
Obama would pay for some of his new spending with higher taxes on the wealthy and new fees on businesses.
Republicans oppose much of the new spending and the tax increases, and Obama’s budget is expected to go nowhere in the GOP House and Senate.
But the White House is itching for a fight that it believes could help frame the political debate in 2015, and in 2016 — when the parties will battle for control of the White House and Congress.
