Obama’s last budget pitch to fight IS, poverty

The budget for the fiscal year beginning on October 1 is largely a political document and is unlikely to be passed by the Republican-controlled Congress. But it gives the Democratic president, who leaves office in January, a chance to make a last pitch for funding on issues such as education, criminal justice reform and job creation. 

“It will be President Obama’s final vision of how he lays out the fiscal future for the country,” said Joel Friedman, vice president for federal fiscal policy at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. “I don’t think anyone expects it to be enacted this year. Republicans aren’t going to embrace it, but that doesn’t mean it’s not going to be a useful document.” 

Congress can advance elements of the budget without endorsing the entire proposal, which is likely to call for roughly 4 trillion dollars in total spending. 

The budget is likely to stay within the confines of an agreement reached between the White House and Congress last year that lifted mandatory “sequestration” cuts on both defence and domestic spending. Friedman noted that Obama and Republican Speaker of the House of Representatives Paul Ryan agreed on some ways to fight poverty.