Obama Budget Projects $901B Deficit in ’13

President Barack Obama will call for raising taxes on the wealthy and boosting jobs spending as part of a fiscal 2013 budget request that envisions the deficit shrinking next year to $901 billion.

Obama is seeking $350 billion in short-term measures to create jobs, most of them repackaged from the spending and tax proposals submitted by the administration and rejected by congressional Republicans last year.

He also would raise $61 billion over 10 years from the largest financial institutions to offset the cost of the Troubled Asset Relief Program and his mortgage refinance plan.

The deficit forecast is based on the assumption Congress accepts previous White House policy recommendations, including ending Bush-era tax cuts for families earning $250,000 or more and eliminating some corporate tax breaks.

“The budget targets scarce federal resources to areas critical to growing the economy and restoring middle-class security,” a White House fact sheet released today says.

From: Bloomberg