A summary of spending proposals

Budget

A summary of spending proposals

A summary of spending proposals from the Obama administration

Federal News Network Staff

February 26, 2009 2:12 pm

3 min read

A summary of spending proposals from the Obama administration:

President Barack Obama wants only a modest increase in defense spending.

His proposal of at least $533.7 billion is only a 4 percent increase from estimated 2009 spending. Such a sizable sum shows the new administration plans to take a moderately conservative approach to the nation’s defense.

But some weapon systems may take big cuts as officials and contractors decide how existing programs fit into that budget after adjustments for inflation.

Obama’s request to Congress on Thursday also includes a separate $205.5 billion for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan between now and fall 2010. More than a third of the war money _ $75.5 billion _ would be spent before October, when the new budget year begins.

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President Barack Obama wants to improve tax collection and expand lending in poor neighborhoods with a nearly 5 percent increase in the Treasury Department budget.

Obama is proposing $13.3 billion in 2010 for Treasury. The administration says it wants to narrow the annual $300 billion gap between taxes owed and taxes collected.

The 2010 budget figure does not include $300 million the department received in the recently approved economic stimulus package.

Treasury’s Community Development Financial Institutions Fund would double under Obama’s plan. The fund helps local banks and other financial institutions make loans in communities that don’t have access to affordable credit.

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The environment would get a lot more green under President Barack Obama’s proposed budget.

Obama would nearly triple funding for infrastructure projects that protect waterways and drinking water as part of the largest budget request for the EPA in eight years.

He is requesting $10.5 billion for the Environmental Protection Agency – a nearly 50 percent increase over what President George Bush asked for last year.

The total includes $3.9 billion for improving the nation’s sewage treatment plants and drinking water systems, as well as projects to protect sources of drinking water.

The budget also banks on raising billions starting in 2012 from auctioning permits to companies that emit the gases blamed for global warming.

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President Barack Obama is proposing moderate increases in space spending. Obama emphasizes global warming research and continues plans to retire space shuttles next year while eventually returning astronauts to the moon.

The $18.7 billion proposal for the budget year starting Oct. 1 is 6 percent more than President George W. Bush asked for last year.

The Obama proposal essentially keeps the space agency on the course set by Bush. It would retire the shuttles in 2010, land people on the moon by 2020 and go five years relying on Russia for rides into orbit. The president wants to add one space shuttle flight next year.

The spending highlight in Obama’s plan is for tracking global warming from space, a major change from previous years.

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Air travelers would probably have to pay more in three years to have their shoes inspected at airports under a spending proposal from the Obama administration.

Starting in 2012, the airlines would cover most of the costs of passenger and baggage screening through increased fees, according to President Barack Obama’s proposal for the 2010 spending year. These fees are generally passed on to travelers by the airlines.

The Homeland Security Department would see a 6 percent boost over what President George W. Bush sought last year.

Obama’s proposal would bolster transportation security, add more Border Patrol agents, send money to state and local governments to hire intelligence analysts, and eliminate a maritime navigation system that Bush sought to enhance.

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Money for cancer research money would increase under President Barack Obama’s proposed budget, a down payment on his pledge to double research funding over five years.

Obama wants more than $6 billion in spending on cancer research at the National Institutes of Health. That would be roughly a 15 percent raise for the National Cancer Institute, which leads the NIH’s research into better ways to prevent, diagnose and treat cancer.

It’s part of an overall effort by Obama and Congress to boost spending at the nation’s premier research agency. The NIH spends about $30 billion a year in the quest for better health, but in recent years its budget hasn’t kept up with inflation.