President Barack Obama has put forward a $4 trillion budget loaded with spending and tax reforms that will likely be dead on arrival at the Republican- controlled Congress. Using a healthier economy to turn away from years of austerity-first policies, Obama's plan includes sizable spending on infrastructure, research and the military, according to details released on Monday.
Senior officials said the plan would "put the good of middle-class families and our economy front and center, while also continuing progress on restoring fiscal discipline." "You don't have to choose between those two things," one official said. "You can in fact accomplish both." The plan would see the deficit remain under three percent of gross domestic product -- a level economists commonly view as sustainable. "The deficit in 2016 will be $474 billion or 2.5 percent of GDP," a senior administration official said, adding that debt would be 75 per cent of GDP. Full details of the budget will be released later Monday.