The Political Showdown Over Obama's Budget
The budget showdown rolls on this week in the nation's capital, reports CBS News correspondent Kimberly Dozier. On Sunday, Democrats and Republicans took to the airwaves in another preview of what is fast becoming a bitter fight.
The battle lines have been drawn, Dozier reports, Democrat versus Republican, over the White House's multi-trillion-dollar budget.
"We've laid out a vision: start to invest in America, invest in your middle class, make the tough choices, be honest with the American people," said White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanual on CBS' Face The Nation.
"I think it's terrifying in the policy implications, as well as mind-boggling in the numbers," Jon Kyl, a Republican Senator from Arizona, said on Fox News Sunday.
It comes down to a difference in philosophy, Dozier reports.
The $3.6 trillion budget pours money into education, transportation and energy. In all, it maps out $500 billion dollars of increased federal spending over the next decade - not counting the cost of planned health care reform. The budget is supposed to pay for itself by raising taxes on the wealthy and on corporations, and cutting many corporate tax breaks.
Republicans call it a plan to re-distribute wealth - robbing from the rich to pay the poor, and leaving future generations to pick up the massive tab.
"It's got a $1.4 trillion tax increase in it, in the middle of a recession," said Congressman Paul D. Ryan, a Wisconsin Republican. "It doubles the debt in eight years. It never balances the budget, in fact, it proposes for the next 10 years that our deficits are the highest we've ever had on record."
Republican heavyweight, Newt Gingrich calls Mr. Obama's plan a game changer for the future.
"He said, 'I want to become a more left-wing country with a bigger government, with higher taxes.' Now, do you want to go that way or not?" Gingrich asked on CBS' Face The Nation.
The White House says the course the last administration took relied on consumer spending and tax cuts for corporations and the higher paid - and that got us where we are now - in trouble.
"Clearly, this budget is changing course," says Peter Orszag, director of the Office of Management and Budget. "It's, like, you know - and the GPS system is recalculating the route and people are getting used to that."
The White House hopes to pass most of the budget by April, Solorzano reports. Advisors say now is the time to do it - early in the administration. They've got high approval ratings and maximum political capital to push this through.