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Early Winners
and Losers of Proposed FY11 Budget
By Alec Macgillis
Monday, February 1, 2010
With President Obama's budget proposal
for the 2011 fiscal year out on the street, we take an early look at
some of the winners and losers, in no particular order:
WINNERS
1. K-12 Education. Despite the
straitened times and his freeze on overall discretionary spending,
Obama is increasing federal funding for public education, one of the
three main areas of his domestic agenda, alongside energy and
health-care reform. The Education Department's proposed budget is up
by nearly $3 billion, or more than 6 percent.
2. Research and development. Also
preserved is spending on research and development in renewable energy
and other areas, which the administration argues is crucial to
sustained economic growth. The Energy Department is up nearly $2
billion, or more than 7 percent. The National Science Foundation is
up more than 8 percent.
LOSERS
1. Charities and universities. The
budget revives Obama's proposal to reduce the amount that wealthy
taxpayers can deduct from their taxes for charitable donations, to
bring it closer to the level of deductions that middle-income
taxpayers receive. The proposal was rebuffed by Congress last year
after vigorous opposition from charities and universities. The White
House apparently is ready to give it another shot.
2. Wealthy Farmers. The administration
is also taking another run in an area where it ran into congressional
resistance last year, an attempt to reduce payments to wealthy
farmers. It would reduce the cap on direct payments from $40,000 to
$30,000 and reduce the income eligibility limits by $250,000 over
three years, saving more than $2 billion over the next 10 years.
To read the full
article, click here.
For
a graph detailing the proposed change in federal programs, click here.
To read the Administration's Fact Sheet on how its FY11 Budget will
impact Michigan, click here.
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