U.S. President Barack Obama is escorted by Jeh Johnson, Secretary Of Homeland Security, left, and Richard M. Chavez, Director of Operations Coordination and Planning, center as he visits the National Operations Center (NOC) at the Department of Homeland Security after speaking about the administration's fiscal year 2016 budget request released earlier today February 2, 2015 in Washington, DC. ; Credit: Pool/Getty Images
Today, President Obama released his fiscal year 2016 budget proposal, an ambitious attempt to set the narrative for the upcoming year despite criticism that most of it will not pass Congress.
The budget contains a plethora of priorities that the administration is committed to funding: free community college for the vast majority of students, expansion of early childhood education and universal preschool, cybersecurity improvements, “resources to degrade and ultimately defeat ISIL,” an increase in support for scientific research, and continued financing of the Affordable Care Act.
Among the administration’s biggest proposals for FY 2016 are a one-time, transitional tax holiday that would tax corporations at the lower rate of 14% in order to incentivize them to repatriate over a trillion dollars in offshore holdings, comprehensive immigration reform based on the Senate’s “Gang of Eight” legislation, limited proposals for tax reform regarding banks and high-earning individuals, as well as a substantial increase in infrastructure spending.
Notably, the President has called for an increase in both defense and non-defense discretionary spending by $38 billion and $37 billion, respectively. This would end the strict caps put on both types of budget priorities that are known in Washington budget-speak as “sequestration.” Congress allowed sequestration to occur during previous budget battles, yet Republicans are anxious to increase defense spending while Democrats are itching to increase non-defense spending.
Because the executive branch does not debate and vote on legislation, the only guarantee is that the President’s budget will not come out the same as it went in. This is particularly true as the new Republican-controlled Senate joins the Republican House in spars with the White House. Therefore the question is not what budget is best for the country but rather what budget can Washington compromise on.
Which priorities do you think President Obama will be able to push through? Are any revenue-increases truly “dead-on-arrival?” How will this budget shape the narrative for the upcoming year and 2016?
Guests:
Maya MacGuineas, President of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, a non-partisan public policy organization based in Washington, D.C. dedicated to federal budget issues
Jodi Schneider, Editor of the Congress & Tax Policy desk, Bloomberg News