Obama’s election-year budget to raise taxes on rich

PanARMENIAN.Net - U.S. President Barack Obama will propose an election-year budget on Monday, Feb 13 that raises taxes on millionaires and seeks billions of dollars for job-creating infrastructure projects, drawing a populist battle line with his Republican opponents, Reuters reported

Obama's fiscal 2013 budget proposal to Congress will defer significant cuts in the deficit until the economy is securely back on track, a priority as he seeks re-election in November, while outlining measures to shrink that funding gap over time.

"I think there is pretty broad agreement that the time for austerity is not today," new White House chief of staff Jack Lew, the president's budget director until a few weeks ago said.

Obama's budget is likely to be declared a non-starter by Republicans, in control of the U.S. House of Representatives, who want to paint the president as a tax-and-spend liberal. They warn that tax hikes will kill jobs while doing nothing to halt the climb in the crushing level of national debt.

"We're taking responsibility for dealing with the drivers of our debt," said Republican Paul Ryan, chairman of the House Budget Committee. "Unfortunately, the president and his party's leaders - they're not a part of this conversation," he said on Sunday, Feb 12.

The budget grants Obama one of his biggest platforms before the November 6 presidential election to lay out his vision for America's future, casting Republicans as the party of the rich as he tries to convince voters he would do more to protect their interests.