President Obama’s $4 trillion budget request, packed with familiar proposals for new spending and higher taxes, landed Monday on the doorstep of a Republican Congress eager to end an era of political gridlock — giving Obama unexpected leverage in coming negotiations.
With the economy on the mend and federal deficits falling, Obama on Monday urged lawmakers to move beyond the "mindless austerity" of the past four years. His budget request seeks fresh investments in education and infrastructure, as well as new tax breaks for a struggling middle class. It also would blow through budget caps set for the Pentagon and domestic agencies, urging an increase of $74 billion next year, or about 7 percent.
Those proposals echo the priorities of many Republican lawmakers, who are torn between their pledge to shrink the size of government and their desire to demonstrate an ability to govern. They, too, want to increase defense spending and replenish a trust fund for highways and other infrastructure scheduled to run dry in May.
That deadline could force both sides to the negotiating table. Meanwhile, Republican leaders newly in control of both chambers have vowed to avoid another politically damaging government shutdown — which means finding common ground with Obama on agency appropriations before the new fiscal year begins Oct. 1.
Despite the pressure to forge consensus, there were few signs of it Monday. Republicans hope to rally lawmakers in both chambers around their own budget blueprint by mid-April. And for now, GOP leaders say they will honor the budget caps adopted during the debt-limit fight of 2011.
Read more at The Washington Post: http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/obama-may-have-new-leverage-with-his-4-trillion-budget-request/2015/02/02/799be914-aaf2-11e4-ad71-7b9eba0f87d6_story.html?wpisrc=nl_headlines&wpmm=1