(Washington) – US President Barack Obama’s fiscal 2015 budget request would boost US tax revenue by nearly $1.4 trillion over 10 years if fully enacted, cutting deficits by $1.05 trillion while funding new spending, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) said.
But the non-partisan agency’s analysis was less optimistic than the White House’s own projections showing that cumulative deficits would total $6.6 trillion over 10 years, compared to $4.9 trillion under the Obama plan when it was released in March.
A key difference between the two deficit pictures is CBO’s projection of slower economic growth, partly resulting in lower revenue collections. The likelihood that Congress will advance Obama’s plan in its entirety is virtually nil, but the CBO’s latest analysis will feed campaign messaging by Democrats and Republicans ahead of congressional elections in November.
