Obama calls for higher taxes on the rich
U.S. President, Barack Obama has called for aggressive spending to boost growth and for higher taxes on the rich as budget is unveiled.
U.S. President Barack Obama laid out an election-year vision for his budget plan.
Obama's 2013 budget proposal to Congress requests more than 800 billion dollars for job creation and infrastructure investment - while calling for a minimum of 30 percent tax on millionaires.
According to President Obama, "The budget that we are releasing today is a reflection of shared responsibility. It says if we are serious about investing in our future, and investing in community colleges and investing in new energy technology, investing in basic research -- we have got to pay for it. And that means we have got to make some choices."
He also called for an end to Bush-era tax breaks that help the wealthiest Americans.
"Keep in mind that a quarter of all millionaires pay lower tax rates than, millions of middle class households. We don’t need to be providing additional tax cuts for folks who are doing really really really well. Do we want to keep these tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans or do we want to spend on everything else? Some people go around and say the President is engaging in class warfare that's not class warfare, that's common sense. "
Congress can ignore the plan and Republicans, who control the U.S. House of Representatives, have made clear that it will be dead on arrival as their party prepares an election battle over taxes, spending and the size of the government.
