Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/456595
ByAndrewTaylor The Associated Press WASHINGTON Promis- ing to help America's mid- dle class, President Barack Obama on Monday sent Congress a record $4 tril- lion budget that would hammer corporate profits overseas and raise taxes on the wealthy while boosting tax credits for families and the working poor. Obama's budget also would steer hundreds of billions of dollars to the nation's infrastructure of roads and bridges, help pro- vide two years of free com- munity college and reverse the across-the-board, auto- matic budget cuts that have slammed the Pentagon and nearly every government department. In the face of certain op- position from Republicans, Obama hailed a "break- through year for Amer- ica" of new jobs, lower un- employment and shrink- ing deficits after the great recession of 2008, and he called for moving past years of "mindless austerity." The blueprint for the 2016 bud- get year that begins Oct. 1 represents a 6.4 percent increase over estimated spending this year, project- ing that the deficit will de- cline to $474 billion. However, Obama's plan ignores the new balance of power in Washington, with Republicans running both the House and Senate. The GOP found plenty to crit- icize in his proposed tax hikes that would total about $1.5 trillion. Republicans cited the nation's $18 trillion debt and assailed what they call Obama's tax-and-spend pol- icies for failing to address the spiraling growth of ben- efit programs such as Social Security and Medicare. "Today President Obama laid out a plan for more taxes, more spending, and more of the Washington gridlock that has failed middle class families," said House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio. "This plan never balances — ever." Republicans will respond this spring with their own plan, a balanced-budget outline promising to ease the burdens of the national debt on future generations, curb the explosive growth of expensive benefit pro- grams and reform a loop- hole-cluttered tax code. While Obama's plan was rejected out of hand on bud- get day, proposals to ease automatic cuts and boost transportation funding are likely to return later in the year and require extensive negotiation. "These proposals are practical, not partisan," Obama said of his overall plans. "They'll help work- ing families feel more se- cure with paychecks that go further, help Ameri- can workers upgrade their skills so they can compete for higher-paying jobs, and help create the conditions for our businesses to keep generating good new jobs for our workers to fill." Some people would pay more. Many wealthy Amer- icans would be able to take tax deductions at the 28 percent rate only even if their incomes were taxed at 39.6 percent, and some would also see an increase in their maximum capital gains rate. However, a couple earn- ing up to $120,000 a year would qualify for a new "second earner" tax credit of up to $500 as well as a maximum $3,000 child care credit for two children, triple the current credit of $1,000. Obama's initiatives to tax the wealthy and to welcome an influx of immigrants into the United States are going nowhere in the new GOP-run Congress. But there is a bipartisan desire to ease automatic spending cuts that are the product of Washington's failures to cut deficits be- yond an initial round in 2011. Both Republicans and Democrats are howling that such broad cuts savage the Pentagon. Obama said he won't give more money to the Pentagon without re- ceiving domestic funds he wants. "It would be bad for our security and bad for our growth," Obama said Mon- day at the Department of Homeland Security. The centerpiece of the president's tax plan is an increase in the capital gains rate on couples mak- ing more than $500,000 per year. The rate would climb from 24.2 percent to the Reagan-era top rate of 28 percent. Obama also wants to require estates to pay capital gains taxes that reflect the increase in value of assets like homes and stocks prior to death in- stead of after inheritance. And he is trying to im- pose a 0.07 percent fee on the roughly 100 U.S. finan- cial companies with assets of more than $50 billion, raising $112 billion over 10 years. All told, Obama proposes higher receipts of about $2 trillion though his budget: about $1.5 trillion from tax increases and almost $500 billion from fresh revenue as immigration reform lifts the economy and provides new workers. His proposals would boost federal spending by $74 billion — divided be- tween the military and do- mestic programs — and would result in a spending increase of $362 billion over the remaining six years the spending caps were to have been in place. The deficit would remain under $500 billion a year through 2018, but would rise to $687 billion by 2025, according to administra- tion projections — though levels of red ink could still be considered manageable when measured against the size of the economy. But the cost of financ- ing the government's debt — currently more than $18 trillion — would spiral as the debt grows to more than $25 trillion by 2025 and in- terest rates on 10-year Trea- sury bills rise to 4.5 per- cent in coming years, ac- cording to the projections. Interest costs would jump from $229 billion this year to $785 billion in 2025. A principal theme this year is infrastructure — the budget books' cover photo is the deteriorating Tappan Zee bridge over the Hud- son River — and the plan includes a six-year, $478 billion transportation and infrastructure plan. Gas- oline tax revenues would cover only half the cost, so Obama proposes a 14 per- cent tax on overseas cor- porate profits to bring in $238 billion. The combina- tion would permit about a one-third increase in spend- ing, with transit programs being the biggest winners. $4 TRILLION BUDGET Ob am a pr op os es t ax in g rich, helping families, poor EVANVUCCI—THEASSOCIATEDPRESS President Barack Obama speaks at the Department of Homeland Security on his budget proposal, on Monday in Washington. JOSEPH KACZMAREK — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Vice President Joe Biden speaks to members of the House Democratic Caucus in Philadelphia. By Josh Lederman The Associated Press WASHINGTON Relations between the United States and Venezuela grew in- creasingly hostile on Mon- day as the U.S. slapped new visa restrictions on Venezuelan officials and their families and Vene- zuela's president accused Vice President Joe Biden of plotting to overthrow him. The State Department said current and former Venezuelan officials be- lieved to be associated with human rights abuses or cor- ruption would be subject to the restrictions, which bar those individuals from en- tering the United States. In a first, the U.S. said its ban would also apply to the in- dividuals' immediate fam- ily members. "We are sending a clear message that human rights abusers, those who profit from public corrup- tion, and their families are not welcome in the United States," said State Depart- ment spokeswoman Jen Psaki. She said the U.S. wouldn't name the abus- ers publicly because of visa confidentiality laws. At the same time, the U.S. dismissed as "ludi- crous" a claim by Venezue- la's President Nicolas Mad- uro that Biden had con- spired against him. In a televised address over the weekend, Maduro claimed that Biden sought to foment the overthrow of his social- ist government during a Caribbean energy summit Biden hosted last month in Washington. According to Maduro, Biden told Carib- bean heads of state that the Venezuelan government's days were numbered and it was time they abandon their support. "What Vice President Jose Biden did is unspeak- able," Maduro said. "Vice President Biden: Look me in the eyes. I saw you in Bra- zil, I gave you my hand. You, who said this is a new era for relations in Latin Amer- ica, were going to conspire against Venezuela." During the public por- tion of the energy summit, Biden never mentioned Venezuela in his remarks. It was unclear what Biden might have said to foreign leaders at the summit be- hind closed doors, but the vice president's office said Maduro's description of Biden's comments were "patently false." Biden's office, in a state- ment, added that Mad- uro's accusations "are clearly part of an effort to distract from the con- cerning situation in Ven- ezuela, which includes re- peated violations of free- dom of speech, assembly, and due process." Maduro, who is strug- gling to keep Venezuela's oil-dependent economy afloat despite mounting problems, frequently ac- cuses foreign governments of conspiracies, coup at- tempts and assassination plots, including the U.S. The exchange of barbs undermined hopes that the U.S. and Venezuela could pursue improved ties fol- lowing a rapid deteriora- tion of relations last year. Just one month ago, Maduro and Biden shook hands in Brazil in an im- promptu meeting and ex- pressed an interest in warmer relations. A pho- tograph of Biden and Maduro smiling warmly at each other at Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff's swearing-in ceremony be- came a meme in Venezuela, and Maduro described the meeting as "cordial." US-Venezuela tensions rise over rights, Biden ALLEGED PLOT By Ivan Moreno The Associated Press DENVER Colorado Repub- lican leaders Monday be- gan a legislative push to walk back or repeal recently passed gun control mea- sures, plunging the state back into one of the most intense political topics in recent history. The debate comes as the GOP has gained a new ma- jority in the state Senate and as the man accused in the suburban Denver movie theater shooting that ig- nited the fight over gun laws goes to trial to face the death penalty. It's been an ongoing struggle as Congress and state legislatures across the U.S. have wrestled over the issue since President Barack Obama and other Democratic leaders led the call for new firearms re- strictions after the theater shooting and a rampage months later at a Connecti- cut elementary school. Colorado, with Dem- ocrats in control of both chambers of state govern- ment and the governor's office, was one of the only states to pass changes, in- cluding a measure limit- ing the size of ammunition magazines and another that expanded background check requirements. The moves have come at great political cost to Colo- rado Democrats. Two state senators were recalled over their support for the restric- tions and a third resigned as a campaign to oust her was mounting. Monday's debates begin what is expected to be a session-long push by GOP leaders, seeking to flex their new muscle and pick up enough Democratic sup- port in the House to make several changes. Here's a look at the proposals up for consideration: • Repealing new back- ground check requirements and the user fees that go along with them. • Undoing the limit on ammunition magazines. . • Allowing anyone over 21 who can legally possess a gun to carry a concealed firearm without a permit, except on school grounds. • Expanding protections against prosecution when a business owner or employee uses deadly force against an intruder. Homeowners al- ready have that protection. • Reducing the civil li- ability of businesses that let people carry concealed firearms, with a permit, on their premises. LEGISLATIVE PUSH GOP plunges into Colorado gun debate CNAs neededat Red Bluff Health Care FT, PT, & On-call Call 527-6232 or stop by 555 Luther Rd. 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