President Obama Releases Budget; Interfaith Advocacy Community Supportive of Many Items

President Obama today released a budget that, among other things: provides a tax cut for 95% of America’s working families, rolls back the Bush tax cuts (with no tax increases for anyone making less than $25,000 a year), expands the Child Tax Credit, makes permanent the $2500 American Opportunity Tax Credit for college education, implements a “cap-and-trade” system to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, provides funds for weatherizing low-income homes, doubles funding for Early Head Start, expands Pell Grants, increases funding for Veterans Affairs by $25 billion over five years, and sets aside a "reserve fund" of $634 billion as a "down payment" on the costs of universal health care coverage over 10 years.

According to one religious leader, "There is much to admire in President Obama’s proposal. It is ambitious, forward-looking, and makes much-needed investments in human needs. At the same, some parts of the budget--such as the effect of changes in the tax code on nonprofits and the amount of money invested in programs to aid vulnerable populations--invite further conversation and clarification."

To read the President's budget, PLEASE CLICK HERE.

To watch the President's Weekly Address, in which he explains and defends his budget,PLEASE CLICK HERE.