President Obama’s $4 trillion budget unveiled Monday is being received with mixed reviews because his spending plan for the second consecutive time did not include $300 million needed to pay for a new customs plaza as part of the proposed Detroit River bridge, which is being built in conjunction with the government of Canada. But the president’s fiscal plan did include $100 million for a nuclear research center at Michigan State University and almost $70 million to renovate the federal courthouse in downtown Detroit.
“The budget I’ve sent to Congress today is fully paid for, through a combination of smart spending cuts and tax reforms. Let me give you an example. Right now, our tax code is full of loopholes for special interests, like the trust fund loophole that allows the wealthiest Americans to avoid paying taxes on their unearned income. I think we should fix that and use the savings to cut taxes for middle-class families. That would be good for our economy,” Obama said in a speech at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security where he unveiled his budget. “Now I know there are Republicans who disagree with my approach. And I’ve said this before: If they have other ideas for how we can keep America safe, grow our economy, while helping middle-class families feel some sense of economic security, I welcome their ideas. But their numbers have to add up. And what we can’t do is play politics with folks’ economic security or with our national security. You, better than anybody, know what the stakes are. The work you do hangs in the balance.”
U.S. Senator Gary Peters (D-MI), who has long spearheaded efforts and introduced legislation to fund the new bridge, expressed his disappointment on Monday with the lack of funding for the Detroit River bridge which he said has received bipartisan support from Governor Rick Snyder, Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan and other political and labor leaders including the UAW, AFL-CIO.
“I am very disappointed that the president’s budget allocates no funding for the New International Trade Crossing in Detroit. This is a project that will create thousands of Michigan jobs, enhance trade with Canada, our closest trading partner, and transform Michigan into a transportation and logistics hub for trade, manufacturing and innovation. As a member of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, I will continue working with Congress, the Obama administration, the Snyder administration and the Canadian government to pursue all options to ensure funding for construction and staffing of the customs plaza,” Peters said.
The Republican majority in Congress is expected to reject Obama’s budget proposal.
“America cannot govern on short-term, continuing resolutions that lead to instability, and Congress and the president should work together on a bipartisan basis to develop a budget proposal that strengthens our middle class and best reflects our values as a nation,” Peters said. “I agree that sequestration is a misguided policy that jeopardizes our continued economic recovery and poses serious threats to both our national security and domestic priorities, and we should take action to end these harmful spending cuts while making more targeted cuts to help reduce the deficit.”
Congresswoman Debbie Dingell, a member of the House Budget Committee, said the budget unveiled by Obama lays out a framework to discuss the financial priorities of the federal government this year.
“The president’s budget request released today provides an important framework for budget discussions this year. It replaces harmful sequestration cuts with a budget that will help grow the middle class and accelerate and sustain economic growth in this country,” Dingell said. “If America is to remain a premier nation, we must invest in cutting-edge research, support quality education and training, rebuild our crumbling infrastructure, and strengthen our manufacturing sector. The president’s budget outlines critical investments in our future, and as a member of the Budget Committee, I will work hard with my colleagues to advance these priorities.”
In the president’s budget he also decreased funding for the Great Lakes Restorative Initiative (GLRI) by $50 million.
U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow, who championed the Great Lakes funding, also said she was disappointed Obama did not include increased funding for the project in his 2016 budget and instead decreased financial support for it.
“I am extremely disappointed that President Obama’s budget cuts funding for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative,” Stabenow said. “With so many water quality challenges, we need to continue to invest in the health of our Great Lakes and waterways for years to come. That is why as cochair of the Great Lakes Task Force I will continue to push for funding and policies that support Great Lakes projects that protect our drinking water, combat invasive species and protect wildlife habitats.”
President Obama speaking about his budget priorities said it reechoes middle class themes in his State of the Union address.
“Will we accept an economy where only a few of us do spectacularly well? Or are we going to build an economy where everyone who works hard has a chance to get ahead? And that was the focus of my State of the Union Address a couple weeks ago — what I called middle-class economics. The idea that this country does best when everybody gets a fair shot, and everybody is doing their fair share, and everybody plays by the same set of rules,” Obama said. “The budget that Congress now has in its hands is built on those values. It helps working families’ paychecks go farther by treating things like paid sick leave and childcare as the economic priorities that they are.”
About Post Author
