Obama Deficit Plan to Call for $1.5 Trillion in Higher Taxes
2011-09-19 18:18:30
President Barack Obama will call for $1.5 trillion in tax increases mostly targeting the wealthy over the next decade as part of a plan to cut the U.S federal deficit by $3 trillion, administration officials said.
Obama’s plan, which he is scheduled to unveil at 10:30 a.m. Washington time today at the White House, will form his recommendations to the 12-member congressional committee charged with finding ways to trim at least $1.5 trillion from the deficit. The panel has a Nov. 23 deadline to reach a deal.
The proposal puts Obama in direct conflict with Republican congressional leaders such as House Speaker John Boehner, who last week said his party wouldn’t accept tax increases and urged the bipartisan supercommittee to focus on scaling back entitlement programs such as the Medicare health-insurance plan for the elderly.