President Barack Obama became the Huffington Post’s latest contributor Thursday, making the case in a blog post for his annual budget proposal he called a “blueprint for success” that he will deliver on Monday to Congress.
Building off his pitch for “middle class economics” in the State of the Union address last week, Obama called on Congress to take up budget proposals he claimed will help build on “America’s resurgence” and help working families while building a more competitive economy.
Previewing a message Obama is slated to deliver to House Democrats on Thursday evening, Obama also wrote in the post that his budget will “fully reverse” the sequester, forced cuts that took effect in 2013 that indiscriminately sliced through the federal budget. Obama’s budget reverses cuts to “domestic priorities” and offer “equal dollar increases” to restore defense spending.
“If Congress passes my budget, our country would meet the key test of fiscal sustainability, with our debt declining as a share of our GDP,” Obama wrote.
Obama’s budget will also include funding for several proposals Obama pitched ahead of and during his State of the Union address — including a proposal to make the first two years of community college free — proposals that are almost certainly dead on arrival in a Republican Congress.
Obama also alluded to the 2013 government shutdown, which resulted after Congress and the President failed to reach an agreement on a budget to fund the federal government. It was the first shutdown in nearly a decade, but came after a series of close calls and last minute deals in recent years.
“We need to turn the page on the manufactured crises that have defined the debates over our budget in recent years,” Obama wrote. “Our recovery was held back when Congress shut down the government and risked the full faith and credit of the United States. We can’t afford to do that again.”
Obama’s budget also includes proposals to invest in American manufacturing, infrastructure projects and medical research.