How Obama's budget stacks up against House, Senate plans

President Barack Obama weighed into Washington's budget wars on Wednesday with a third entry that offers Republicans a modest concession on entitlement programs but demands that the wealthy pay more in taxes.

His fiscal 2014 budget request is closer in most respects to the modest budget savings passed by Senate Democrats last month than to the deep cuts passed by the Republican-controlled House of Representatives aimed at achieving a surplus by 2023. Here's how the three budget plans compare in key areas: Deficits Obama: Projected deficits are slightly higher than the Senate plan in the early years of the next decade and never dip below USD 475 billion. But they are lower than the Senate plan in later years and average 2.5 percent of gross domestic product over 10 years.
Cumulative deficit is USD 5.27 trillion. Senate: Deficits fall to around USD 400 billion by 2016 and stay in the USD 400-USD 600 billion range, averaging 2.4 percent of GDP over 10 years. Cumulative deficit is USD 5.20 trillion. House: Deficits fall below USD 100 billion by 2016 and reach a small surplus in 2023. As a share of GDP, they average 0.6 percent over 10 years. Cumulative deficit is USD 1.23 trillion. US debt held by public in 2013 Obama: USD 3 trillion; debt-to-GDP ratio declines gradually to 73 percent from about 77 percent at present.

Senate: USD 18.2 trillion; debt-to-GDP ratio declines gradually to 70.4 percent. House: USD 14.2 trillion; debt-to-GDP ratio falls sharply to 54.8 percent. Claimed deficit reduction Obama: Claims to reduce deficits by USD 1.8 trillion over 10 years but this includes replacing automatic spending cuts known as the sequester. Obama resurrects previous offer of USD 930 billion in spending cuts coupled with USD 580 billion in new tax revenue. Also proposes USD 166 billion in new spending on surface transportation improvements financed by USD 167 billion in savings from drawdown of foreign war spending. Proposes moving to a "more accurate" measure of inflation for cost of living adjustments to most programs and tax brackets, for a 10-year savings of USD 230 billion.

Senate: Claims USD 1.85 trillion in 10-year savings, but this includes USD 960 billion to replace automatic spending cuts. Seeks USD 975 billion in spending cuts and USD 975 billion in new revenue from eliminating tax credits for the wealthy and large corporations. Proposes USD 100 billion in new spending on infrastructure, job training. House: Claims to slash deficits by USD 4.6 trillion over 10 years, on top of savings from the automatic sequester spending cuts which are left in place. No new revenues are sought, all reductions come from spending cuts, largely cuts to social safety net programs. Healthcare Obama: Seeks USD 400 billion in health care savings over 10 years, largely by standardizing reimbursement rates across the Medicare and Medicaid health care programs and other program changes to improve efficiencies and cut waste. Proposes to increase Medicare premiums after 2017 for wealthier seniors for doctor's visits and drug benefits, generating USD 50 billion in 10-year savings.
_PAGEBREAK_ Senate: Makes no major structural changes to Medicare, Medicaid and other health care programs. Seeks USD 265 billion in savings from Medicare through unspecified new efficiencies to be determined in future legislation; USD 10 billion in savings from Medicaid through reductions in some reimbursement rates to match those in Medicare and other efficiencies. House: Seeks repeal of President Barack Obama's health care reforms, clawing back USD 1.84 trillion in future spending. Cuts USD 756 billion from Medicaid and other health care programs for the poor by turning them into block grants for states. Seeks USD 129 billion in efficiency savings from Medicare, but starting in 2024 turns program into a voucher-like subsidy to help seniors buy health coverage from private insurers or the traditional Medicare system. The Republican plan also would apply greater means-testing across the program. Taxes Obama: Revives past proposals for raising USD 580 billion over 10 years from the wealthy, including the "Buffet tax" that phases in a new minimum 30-percent tax rate on income above USD 1 million and caps on itemized deductions for income starting at USD 250,000. It also proposes a new USD 77 billion cigarette-tax increase to fund an early childhood education program and would limit tax-deferred individual retirement accounts to USD 3 million, exposing more income to taxation. Senate: Seeks USD 975 billion in new revenue from closing tax loopholes. It does not specify which of these tax breaks should end but states that any such effort, including broader tax reform, should target breaks that benefit the wealthy and the largest corporations, preserving those aiding the middle class. House: Seeks no new tax revenue, but leaves in place the USD 620 billion "fiscal cliff" tax hike on the wealthy. Proposes to eliminate wasteful tax deductions, credits and loopholes in order to lower personal and corporate income tax rates dramatically, with just two tax brackets for individuals - 10 and 25 percent. Discretionary Spending Obama: Obama budget seeks to add discretionary spending above caps set in budget legislation in 2011 - with an increase of USD 99 billion to USD 1.155 trillion for 2014. It would then gradually reduce the caps in later years. Senate: Senate plan seeks to stick largely to the pre-sequester spending caps in early years, including USD 1.058 trillion in 2014 and USD 1.073 trillion in 2015, but in later years discretionary spending excluding disasters would fall slightly below the 2011 caps. House: Keeps the post-sequester caps on discretionary spending in place, resulting in sharp reductions for programs ranging from education to the military to national parks - to USD 966 billion for 2014 and USD 995 billion for 2015.