The President’s $3.9 trillion budget attacks income equality

The President’s $3.9 trillion budget attacks income equality

By Roger Caldwell

America is struggling, and the majority of the residents are in debt, and 50 percent are not sure every month how they will pay their bills. Very few will tell the truth about their economic condition, so they hid behind the illusion that they are making it. Most Americans are not disciplined so they buy new cars and other shiny objects, which they know they cannot afford.

Our legislators operate from the same mindset, and they spend money that is not in the treasury, so they end up taking out loans. Most Democrats don’t like the Republicans, but the Republicans are right when they say the federal legislators and the President need to balance our budget.

The 2015 suggested budget from the President is designed to decrease the deficit, but also increase spending for education and infrastructure. The $3.9 trillion budget has included one trillion dollars in tax increases, mostly on the rich and corporations.

“Folks are not taking it seriously, because it is not a very serious document,” said Senate Minority Leader, Mitch McConnell. The Republicans are already drawing a line in the sand and getting the troops together to fight the President. Instead of making intelligent and well thought out criticisms, they are pulling the trigger without a detailed assessment and evaluation.

The Republicans believe that our President is a liberal who borders on socialism, and they refuse to agree with anything he proposes. President Obama has always been a fighter for the rights of workers, the grassroots, the minorities, women, the sick, the seniors, the poor and middle class. This is dialectally opposed to what the Republicans believe, and this is why the Congress has been paralyzed.

President Obama believes the widening income gap as the “defining challenge of our time.” In 2012, the gap between the richest 1 percent and the remaining 99 percent was the widest it’s been since the 1920s. Incomes of the wealthiest 1 percent rose nearly 20 percent, but the income of the other 99 percent rose only 1 percent.

“As long as the problems of the poor are not radically resolved by rejecting the absolute autonomy of markets and financial speculation and by attacking the structural causes of inequality, no solution will be found for the world’s problems or, for that matter, to any problems,” says Pope Francis.

It appears that the Republicans are working for the rich, and they will stop at nothing to help maintain control and power. They may get upset when the President ask them for more money, but we all know they can afford it, and they will not feel it. They will still buy their spacious mansions, their beautiful cars, and take international vacations.

The rich continue to get richer, and their only concern is their money and material possessions. The President is right when he increases the taxes on the wealthy 1 percent. Our President cares about the 99 percent, and he has initiatives in his budget that will generate jobs with excellent paying salaries.

“It’s a road map for creating jobs with good wages and expanding opportunity for all. My plan would curb budget deficits with higher taxes on the wealthy and other savings, not by putting the burdens on folks who can least afford it,” said the President at an elementary school in the nation’s capital.

President Obama’s budget covers $302 billion in infrastructure over four years, $60 billion to expand income tax credit for childless workers, $66 billion to support preschool programs for all children, and raising the taxes on tobacco. The Republicans may not think that the President’s budget is not a serious document, but extensive thought and care when into his budget.

The President has come this far by faith and hard work, and he is not going to stop now. Our President is compassionate, and he wants to level the playing field, and expand opportunities for all Americans.