Obama's $3.77 Trillion Budget Adds Millionaire Tax

Obama's $3.77 Trillion Budget Adds Millionaire Tax

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President Obama officially released his 2014 budget this morning, 60 days passed the legal deadline. The $3.77 trillion budget replaces the sequester cuts and proposes new spending for infrastructure and education. It includes new tax hikes for the wealthy and significant reforms to Social Security and Medicare. “We need to grow our economy and shrink our deficits, this budget allows us to do both,” President Obama said during a press conference at the White House. Of Republicans are almost certainly going to reject the tax hikes and stimulus spending measures.   -   Read more at The Fiscal Times

FROM OMB: THE BUDGET DETAILS
• $1.8 trillion of additional deficit reduction over 10 years, bringing total deficit reduction achieved to $4.3 trillion.
• More than $2 in spending cuts for every $1 of new revenue from closing tax loopholes and reducing tax benefits for the wealthiest.
• Deficit is reduced to 2.8% of GDP by 2016 and 1.7% by 2023 with debt declining as a share of the economy, while protecting the investments we need to create jobs and strengthen the middle class.
• $400 billion in health savings that crack down on waste and fraud to strengthen Medicare for years to come.
- See OMB’s summary here

$25 BILLION CUT IN REDUNDANT GOV PROGRAMS    The president’s budget proposes to save more than $25 billion in 2014 by cutting and consolidating programs in the federal government. Specifics include “streamlining more than half of the multi-agency science, technology, engineering and math education programs through a ‘bold reorganization’ of efforts for K-12, undergraduate, graduate and informal education programs,” according to Government Executive. Currently there are more than 220 programs doing relatively the same thing spread across 13 agencies. The budget also calls for the cancelation of funding for catfish inspections at the USDA, since the same inspections are also currently being conducted by the Food and Drug Administration and the National Marine Fisheries Service. -  Read more at GovExec

DEMOCRATS DEFEAT GUN LAW FILIBUSTER     The Fiscal Times' David Francis writes: Democrats defeated a Republican threat to filibuster gun control legislation Tuesday, scheduling a vote on the contentious legislation for later this week. “We’re moving forward on this bill,” Senate majority leader Harry Reid said Tuesday afternoon. “The American people deserve a vote on this legislation.” Thirteen Republicans, including presidential hopefuls Rand Paul (Ky.) and Marco Rubio (Fla.) pledged to filibuster the law, which they said violated the Constitution’s right to bear arms. But on Tuesday, Democrats said they believed they had enough Republican support to overcome to attempted filibuster, and a vote was scheduled for Thursday. Despite defeating the filibuster, the bill is not expected to pass the Senate. 
 
NORTH KOREA THREATENS WAR   "North Korean officials are warning foreigners in South Korea to leave the country as soon as possible, saying that “an all out war” is imminent. Regardless, few in the South are taking the threat seriously, and military intelligence indicates that the North is not preparing to attack. But the U.S. is taking the threats very seriously," The Fiscal Times' David Francis writes. "On Tuesday, U.S. Pacific Commander Adm. Samuel J. Locklear warned lawmakers on Capitol Hill that North Korea could strike at any time. “A major conflict in Korea could have unpredictable, long term, and far reaching impacts due to the central location of the Korean peninsula in Northeast Asia and the vital importance of Northeast Asian trade to the global economy,” Locker told the Senate Armed Services Committee Tuesday."

Brianna Ehley is the former Washington Correspondent for The Fiscal Times. She is currently a reporter on Politico's health care team in Washington, D.C.