WASHINGTON (AP) – President Donald Trump is sending Congress a $4.4 trillion spending plan that provides a huge increase in defense spending while cutting taxes by $1.5 trillion over the next decade. The result is soaring budget deficits.
Trump’s first budget last year projected that the government would achieve a small surplus by 2027. But the new budget never gets to balance. It proposes $7.1 trillion in red ink over the next decade, basically doubling last year’s forecast.
The new plan, for the 2019 budget year, seeks increases in such areas as building the border wall and fighting the opioid epidemic.
The plan would use $200 billion in federal money to leverage local and state governments.
It would also change the permitting process to get infrastructure projects underway more quickly.
Top Democrats have pushed back against that aspect plan. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of California said the infrastructure plan would raise tolls on commuters, increase the burden on cities and states and sell essential infrastructure to the whims of Wall Street.
The plan calls for cuts to the Environmental Protection Agency. The budget allocates $762 million for the Hazardous Substance Superfund Account, a reduction of more than 30 percent.
Complicating matters, Trump last week signed a $300 billion measure to boost defense and domestic spending, negating many of the cuts in his new budget plan.
Copyright 2018. Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
