President Barack Obama proposed an approximately $4 trillion budget for the 2016 fiscal year Monday.
Republicans have scorned the budget that seeks to help middle-income Americans by raising the taxes on higher-income earning individuals and corporations, Reuters reported. Congress must approve the budget in order for it to take effect.
Obama also believes that the U.S. could spend in a fiscally responsible way. It proposes a $474 million deficit, 2.5 percent of U.S. gross domestic product, which economists say is sustainable.
Obama told Congress that the budget was "practical, not partisan," according to the Wall Street Journal. Even though the economy is strengthening and Obama wants to de-emphasize deficit-reduction measures, he did not propose any effort to fix the rising costs of Social Security and Medicare.
The budget seeks $3.99 trillion in spending and $3.53 trillion in revenue for the new fiscal year which would begin Oct. 1. Furthermore, the 2,000-page plan seeks to end the automatic, across-the-board spending cuts that both Republicans and Democrats agreed to four years ago.
Obama spoke from the headquarters for the Department of Homeland Security, Reuters reported. The White House chose this location to demonstrate its desire for Republicans to fund the agency responsible for implementing his executive actions on immigration. Obama said Republicans would put the nation at risk if they refused to fully fund the department.
Republicans have threatened to cut spending for the Department of Homeland Security in order to stop Obama's executive actions on immigration.
"Today, President Obama laid out a plan for more taxes, more spending, and more of the Washington gridlock that has failed middle-class families," said Republican speaker of the House of Representatives John Boehner.
However, the White House said it can reduce the deficit by $1.8 trillion over the next decade if it increases taxes on top earners by $633 billion, the Wall Street Journal said. In addition, Obama has proposed $320 billion in tax increases to finance tax cuts for low-and middle-income earners.
