President Obama and congressional Republicans are squaring off again in a budget fight, this time over Obama's new plan to slice the deficit by $3.6 trillion over 10 years. The plan, released on Sept. 19, includes tax hikes to get more revenue from wealthy taxpayers and modifications to Medicare and Medicaid. Congressional Republicans blasted the proposal, signaling a deal will be hard to achieve.
The legislative package also would cover the $447-billion cost of Obama's Jobs for America Act, unveiled on Sept. 9 (ENR 9/19 p. 9), which includes $105 billion for transportation, schools and other infrastructure.