April 10 Photo Brief: Proposed FY2014 federal budget, 6.1 magnitude quake in Iran, a salt water crocodile named Too Long
White House releases proposed FY2014 federal budget, aftermath of a 6.1 magnitude quake in Iran, a salt water crocodile named Too Long and more in today’s daily brief. | Warning: Visual content may depict death and/or injury.
- Senate Budget Committee staff members hand out copies of the Obama Administration’s proposed FY 2014 federal budget in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill April 10, 2013 in Washington, DC. Wednesday was the first day that members of Congress were able to study the budget, which the White House says would cut deficits by a total of $1.8 trillion over a decade. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
- New born camel ‘Amelia’ is seen with her mother at the Bioparco zoo on April 10, 2013 in Rome, Italy. Amelia, a female Bactrian camel, was born on March 25. (Giorgio Cosulich/Getty Images)
- Cherry blossoms bloom along the Tidal Basin in Washington on April 9, 2013. A colder than normal March and chilly April delayed the beginning of the cherry blossom season in the nation’s capital with the peak blooming prediction now set for April 6-10. (Marc-Antoine Baudoux/AFP/Getty Images)
- A Malian Special Force soldier takes part on April 9, 2013, 105 kms north of the northeastern Malian city of Gao, in day two of Operation Gustav, a hunt for Islamist fighters in a valley in northern Mali and one of France’s largest military operations during its three-month intervention in its former colony. (Joel Saget/AFP/Getty Images)
- An Iranian woman receives medical treatment from aid workers in the town of Shonbeh, southeast of Bushehr, on April 9, 2013 after a powerful earthquake struck near the Gulf port city of Bushehr. The 6.1 magnitude quake killed at least 30 people and injured 800 but Iran’s only nuclear power plant was left intact, officials said. (Mohammad Fatemi/AFP/Getty Images)
- Iranians collect their belongings from the rubble of their damaged house in the town of Shonbeh, southeast of Bushehr, on April 10, 2013, a day after a powerful earthquake struck near the Gulf port city of Bushehr. Rescuers wound up operations after pulling 20 people from the rubble of a 6.1 magnitude earthquake that struck near the port city of Bushehr, killing 37 people but sparing Iran’s sole nuclear power plant. (Stringer/AFP/Getty Images)
- A member of the Free Syrian Army holds his weapon as he looks through a hole on a building wall in Deir al-Zor April 9, 2013. (Khalil Ashawi/Reuters)
- An Afghan child looks on at a camp for returning refugees in Qala-e Qul Mohammad, on the outskirts of Mazar-i Sharif, capital of Balkh province, on April 9, 2013. Trying to recover from 30 years of conflict that destroyed institutions and infrastructure, Afghanistan remains one of the poorest countries in the world. Polls show that at a local level, Afghans are less concerned about poor security than they are about jobs, electricity and roads. (Farshad Usyan/AFP/Getty Images)
- Twenty-four Eastern Europeans citizens; 19 Ukrainians, three from Belarus and two Russians sit in a cell as they stand trial for serving as mercenaries for ousted Libyan slain leader Moamer Kadhafi during their hearing at the Military High Court in Tripoli on April 10, 2013. “The trial was adjourned to May 1, 2013,” said the president of the military court, acceding to the request of prosecutors and defense lawyers who have been committed by the Libyan government to defend the accused. (Mahmud Turkia/AFP/Getty Images)
- Indian youths jump into a water well to escape the heat in Hyderabad on April 10, 2013. Water shortages are a problem in the southern Indian city as summer temperatures soar above 40 degrees Celsius. (Noah Seela/AFP/Getty Images)
- A man rests in a basket at a night market in Yangon early on April 10, 2013. A World Bank official said earlier this year that Myanmar has “enormous potential” as it undergoes reforms. (Ye Aung Thu/AFP/Getty Images)
- British police look on as a girl holds a rose amid floral tributes at the home of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in central London on April 10, 2013. British lawmakers will interrupt their holidays for a special session of parliament on April 10 to debate the legacy of Margaret Thatcher, who died on April 8 aged 87 after suffering a stroke. (Leon Neal/AFP/Getty Images)
- A salt water crocodile named “Too Long” holds a 6.5 kg pig head in its mouth during feeding time inside a crocodile park in Pasay city, metro Manila April 10, 2013. “Too Long” is approximately 16 feet (4.9 metres) long and is the largest salt water crocodile in the capital, an official of the crocodile park said. (Romeo Ranoco/Reuters)
- Tarzan, a 9-year-old lion, and Hera, one of his two female cubs, rest in Onesti, 166 miles northeast of Bucharest in this March 4, 2013 picture released on April 10, 2013. Four Paws Animal Welfare Foundation transferred lion cubs Hera and Sara, their two parents and two tigers from a zoo in Onesti to Lionsock Big Cat Sanctuary in South Africa after the zoo was closed down. More than 100 felines from around the world like lions, tigers, cheetahs or caracals that were originally from zoos, circuses or kept in illegal captivity are hosted and cared for by Four Paws in their 1,242-hectare sanctuary. (Mihai Vasile/Four Paws/Handout via Reuters)
- Locals carry a dead leopard which was killed after wandering into the town in Kathmandu April 10, 2013. The leopard attacked and injured 15 people including 3 policemen before it was killed, according to local media. (Navesh Chitrakar/Reuters)
- This photo taken on March 24, 2013 shows Russin President Vladimir Putin as he plays with his dogs ‘Buffy’ (up) and ‘Yume’ at his residence Novo-Ogariovo, outside Moscow. Bulgarian shepherd dog ‘Buffy’ was presented to Putin by his Bulgarian counterpart Boyko Borisov while Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda offered Putin the puppy ‘Yume’ as a gift during the G20 in Mexico in June. (Alexsey Druginyn-Pool via AFP/Getty Images)
- Cast member Harrison Ford signs autographs at the premiere of “42” in Hollywood, California April 9, 2013. The movie opens in the U.S. on April 12. (Mario Anzuoni/Reuters)
Obama budget aims to kickstart deficit-reduction talks
Mark Felsenthal and Jeff Mason
Reuters
2:26 p.m. EDT, April 10, 2013
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama proposed a $3.77 trillion budget on Wednesday that combines controversial cuts to social safety net programs with tax increases on the wealthy.
The package is meant to lure Republicans to negotiate a broad deficit-reduction plan, but the details mirror a proposal Obama laid out last year that was rejected by Republican leaders.
Obama’s budget for fiscal year 2014, which begins on October 1, would trim the deficit over three years by requiring people making more than $1 million annually to pay more in taxes while enacting spending cuts that would replace the “sequester” reductions that went into place last month.
It has little chance of becoming law.
Many Republicans reject Obama’s push for tax increases and many Democrats oppose cuts to the popular Social Security retirement program.
But both sides want to lower the deficit, which Obama’s budget projected would fall to 744 billion in 2014, or 4.4 percent of gross domestic product, from an estimated $973 billion in 2013.
The president said his proposal – particularly the healthcare and pension program cuts painful to his fellow Democrats – meant he had moved in Republicans’ direction.
“When it comes to deficit reduction, I’ve already met Republicans more than halfway,” Obama said in remarks at the White House.
“So, in the coming days and weeks, I hope that Republicans will come forward and demonstrate that they’re really as serious … about the deficits and debt as they claim to be.”
Obama’s budget aims to achieve $1.8 trillion in deficit reduction over 10 years. Added to the $2.5 trillion in deficit cuts from past efforts, the total would be above the $4 trillion reduction both parties have said would be an acceptable goal.
The ratio of deficits to GDP would fall to 2.8 percent in 2016, below the 3 percent level economists say is necessary to put debt on a path to shrinking as a share of the economy.
Republicans largely dismissed Obama’s proposal.
John Boehner, the Republican speaker of the House of Representatives and Obama’s main opponent for deficit talks, said Obama’s proposed cuts to entitlement programs such as Social Security were praiseworthy but not sufficient.
“I would hope that he would not hold hostage these modest reforms for his demand for bigger tax hikes,” Boehner said.
“The president got his tax hikes in January, we don’t need to be raising taxes on the American people. So I’m hopeful in the coming weeks we’ll have an opportunity, through the budget process, to come to some agreement,” he said.
LOOKING FOR A DEAL
Obama’s hope is to build a coalition of lawmakers willing to move toward his position, although most observers see that as unlikely. He has invited 12 Republicans to dinner at the White House on Wednesday.
Both sides were unable to prevent some $85 billion in across-the-board “sequestration” spending cuts from going into effect March 1.
Obama’s budget proposal would replace those cuts with his original deficit-reduction proposal from December. That offer included $930 billion in spending reductions and some $580 billion in tax revenues.
Obama’s budget revives his call that wealthier people help more with deficit reduction. It would require those making $1 million a year or more to pay at least 30 percent of their income in taxes, after gifts to charity.
Controversially, it also proposes using a less generous measure of inflation to calculate cost-of-living benefit increases for the beneficiaries of some federal programs. This change would have the effect of shrinking payments to some who receive the popular Social Security retirement programs.
Although Obama has pledged to shield some of the most vulnerable beneficiaries, the proposal has drawn strong opposition from some fellow Democrats and groups representing labor.
In line with proposals from his State of the Union address, Obama’s budget includes spending on policy priorities such as infrastructure and expanded pre-school programs.
A proposal for $77 billion in spending to expand early childhood education would be financed by nearly doubling the federal tobacco tax to $1.95 from $1.01 per pack of cigarettes.
The budget also includes a 10 percent tax credit for small businesses that raise wages or hire new workers.
Obama’s budget is a clear contrast with a rival blueprint by Representative Paul Ryan, the 2012 Republican vice presidential nominee and potential 2016 presidential candidate.
Ryan’s plan aims to balance the budget in 10 years through deep cuts to healthcare and social programs while lowering tax rates.
“The real question I want to know is: When does he balance the budget? Does he propose to ever balance the budget?” Ryan said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” program.
The Obama budget envisions a steady pickup in economic growth but only a gradual decline in the unemployment rate.
The White House sees growth rising to 3.4 percent in 2014 from 2.6 percent this year, while the jobless rate would drop to 7 percent at the end of 2014 from 7.5 percent in the last three months of 2013.
(Additional reporting by Susan Heavey, Richard Cowan, Steve Holland and Roberta Rampton; Editing by Fred Barbash, Will Dunham and Tim Dobbyn)