Obama's US Budget $3.6 Trillion for 2010, Including $200 Billion for War in Iraq and Afghanistan

U.S. president to seek $3.606 trillion for first budget

2009-02-26 23:06:47

·Obama is expected to propose a budget of 3.606 trillion U.S. dollars for fiscal year 2010. ·Obama expects that the costs of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars will total just over $140 billion this year. ·He also requested as much as 634 billion dollars for health care reforms.

WASHINGTON, Feb. 26 (Xinhua) --

U.S. President Barack Obama is expected to propose a budget of 3.606 trillion U.S. dollars for fiscal year 2010 on Thursday in an attempt to pull the U.S. economy out of a recession.

In his first budget blueprint to Congress, the president expects that the costs of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars will total just over 140 billion dollars this year. The costs for the two wars will decline to 130 billion in the 2010 fiscal year.

Annual costs for the war will drop sharply after that, to 50 billion dollars annually beginning in 2011, the budget will show.

He also requested as much as 634 billion dollars for health care reforms over the next 10 years.

Obama also has asked for an additional 250 billion dollars to be set aside if needed to bail out the U.S. financial system.

Obama's budget projects 1.2 percent decline of U.S. economy in 2009

2009-02-26 23:20:50

WASHINGTON, Feb. 26 (Xinhua) --

U.S. President Barack Obama Thursday sent to Congress a budget that projects the U.S. economy will contract by 1.2 percent in 2009.

Meanwhile, it expects the economy will expand by 3.2 percent in 2010 and the growth will accelerate to 4.0 percent in 2011 and 4.6 percent in 2012.

The budget, due out at 11 a.m. EST (1600 GMT), also projects the deficit for this year will soar to 1.75 trillion U.S. dollars, reflecting massive spending to pull the nation out of recession, media reports said.

"In keeping with my commitment to make our government more open and transparent, this budget is an honest accounting of where we are and where we intend to go," Obama said Thursday morning before releasing the budget.

Obama, who inherited a more-than 1 trillion dollar deficit when he took office, also warned that there are "some hard choices that lie ahead" due to the current global economic crisis.

Editor: Yan

Obama budget projects $1.75 trillion deficit in 2009

2009-02-27 00:36:36

WASHINGTON, Feb. 26 (Xinhua) --

U.S. President Barack Obama on Thursday sent to Congress a budget that projects the deficit for this year will soar to 1.75 trillion U.S. dollars, reflecting massive spending to pull the nation out of recession.

The budget overview will call for nearly 4 trillion dollars in spending in fiscal year 2010 beginning Oct. 1, and leaves open the possibility that Obama will need an additional 750 billion dollars in bailout money.

The budget will also set aside a 634-billion-dollar "reserve fund" as a down payment to cover roughly two-thirds of the anticipated 10-year cost of universal health care coverage -- projected at 1 trillion dollars.

The huge deficit figure would represent 12.3 percent of the U.S. economy, making it the largest share since World War II.

The deficit totaled 455 billion dollars in 2008, which was an all-time high in dollar terms.

"In keeping with my commitment to make our government more open and transparent, this budget is an honest accounting of where we are and where we intend to go," said Obama on Thursday morning before releasing the budget.

"This is a very significant down payment," a senior administration official also told FOX News. "We consider putting this reserve fund on the table a more auspicious approach to getting this done this year."

"They've painted the worst-case scenario in order to make it as easy as possible to improve on," said Maya MacGuineas, president of the bipartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, which champions deficit reduction.

"This budget is more realistic than we've seen in the past, in that it actually includes all the policies the administration is supporting. But I'd like to see them go much further in terms of fiscal responsibility in actually closing that deficit gap," he added.

The Democrats also welcomed the massive budget. "It's a bold plan. This is big strokes. This is not a budget about little things," Rep. Chris Van Hollen, a member of the House leadership, was quoted as saying by the Washington Post.

"The president knows there are a lot of big lifts in this budget. But in order to turn the economy around and lay the foundation for long-term prosperity, we have to make these tough decisions," said Hollen.

However, the Republicans attacked the bill as too costly. "It's a hollow number," said Sen. Judd Gregg, the senior Republican on the Senate Budget Committee, who recently withdrew as Obama's nominee to head the Commerce Department.

"You're not getting savings if you're assuming spending that isn't actually going to occur," he said.

Obama also acknowledged the criticism. He also expected the deficit to decline steadily in the coming fiscal year, reaching 533 billion by 2013, so as to fulfill his promise to cut the deficit in half by the end of his first term.

The president, who inherited an over-1-trillion-dollar deficit when he took office, also warned that there are "some hard choices that lie ahead" due to the current economic crisis.

Editor: Yan

Obama seeks more than 200 billion USD for war spending: officials

2009-02-27 00:13:57

WASHINGTON, Feb. 26 (Xinhua) --

U.S. President Barack Obama will ask Congress for more than 200 billion dollars to fund American war efforts for the next year and a half, officials said Thursday.

The president will make the request when he announces his overall budget request for fiscal year 2010 at the White House.

In all, Obama will seek 205.5 billion dollars for wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, including 75.5 billion dollars through the end of this fiscal year, and 130 billion dollars for fiscal year 2010 that starts Oct. 1, American wire services and TV networks quoted officials as saying.

Aside from the war spending, Obama will also request 534 billion dollars for other Defense Department expenditures.

The amounts for the wars are less than Defense Secretary Robert Gates asked for and in keeping with expectations that the president plans a major reduction of the 142,000 U.S. soldiers in Iraq.

The extra funding for fiscal 2009, which ends Sept. 30, includes money for adding 17,000 personnel to the U.S. force of 38,000 in Afghanistan.

Congress already has approved 65.9 billion dollars in emergency wartime spending for the first half of fiscal 2009.

Adding the additional 75.5 billion dollars Obama is seeking would bring the total to about 141.4 billion dollars. That is the lowest amount for war spending since fiscal 2006 when Congress approved 121.5 billion dollars.

Congress approved 171 billion dollars for fiscal 2007 and 187 billion dollars for fiscal 2008, the highest level since the Sept.11 terror attacks.

Editor: Yan

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