Obama Unveils $3.7 Trillion Budget

The ball is in your court, Congress. President Obama delivered his 2013 budget to Congress in a brief press conference, saying, “Our economy is poised for progress, as long as Washington doesn’t get in the way.” The $3.77 trillion spending plan looks largely the same as the deal Republicans rejected during the “fiscal cliff” negotiations at the end of last year, but with cuts to Social Security designed to get fiscal hawks back to the table. It also calls for almost $250 billion in new spending on public works and expanded preschool education and $800 billion in new taxes, including a new 94-cent tax on cigarettes. Among the bill’s more unique provisions is $78 million for NASA to “pursue innovative approaches to visiting an asteroid.”