• The reserve fund
is referred to as a "down payment on health care reform," and is
financed in part by squeezing $316 billion in efficiencies out of
the current health care system by "aligning incentives toward
quality," "promoting efficiency/accountability," and "encouraging
shared responsibility."
• The reserve fund
is also financed in part by "rebalancing the tax code so that the
wealthiest pay more."
• The budget will
require higher-income senior citizens in the Medicare drug program
to pay higher premiums. This accounts for a projected $8.1 billion
in savings over 10 years.
• $6 billion for
cancer research by the National Institutes of Health. This is in
addition to the $10 billion provided by the stimulus package for
2009 and 2010.
Energy
• The FY 2010
budget includes $26.3 billion in projected spending for the Energy
Department. That figure is virtually the same as FY 2009, aside
from $7.5 billion in FY 2009 emergency loans designed in part to
help the domestic auto industry comply with stiffer environmental
regulations.
• The Energy
Department received another $38.7 billion in the stimulus
package.
• The FY 2010
budget "builds on the $11 billion provided in the [stimulus
package] for smart grid technologies, transmission system expansion
and upgrades, and other investments to modernize and enhance the
electric transmission infrastructure."
• It "supports and encourages the early commercial development
of innovative, clean energy technologies through loan
guarantees."
• It supports
so-called "clean coal." The document states that the "budget
supports Carbon Capture and Storage technology, and along with the
$3.4 billion provided in the Recovery Act for low-carbon emission
coal power and industrial projects ... will help allow the use of
our extensive domestic coal resource while reducing the impacts on
climate change."
• It cuts funding
for the controversial Yucca Mountain nuclear waste storage program.
Funding for the program "will be scaled back ... while the
Administration devises a new strategy toward nuclear waste
disposal."
Defense
• $533.7 billion
for the Department of Defense in FY 2010, an increase of $20.4
billion, or 4 percent, over 2009
• $75.5 billion in
spending on Iraq and Afghanistan for the remainder of 2009
• $130 billion in
spending on Iraq and Afghanistan for FY 2010
• The budget
supports an increase in Army permanent forces to 547,000 and in
Marine Corps forces to 202,000 by the end of 2009, two to three
years ahead of schedule. The Marines confirmed last week they had
reached their target size. iReport.com: What
are you cutting from your budget?
Homeland
Security
• $42.7 billion in
funding for FY 2010, up from $40.1 billion in FY 2009. This is in
addition to the $2.8 billion in homeland security funding from the
stimulus package.
• $50 million for 15 new TSA "Visual Intermodal Protection
Response" teams
• $64 million "to modernize the infrastructure used to vet
travelers and workers. These funds will strengthen screening in
order to reduce the risk of potential terrorism or other unlawful
activities that threaten the nation's transportation system."
• The
administration proposes increasing the Aviation Passenger Security
Fee beginning in 2012. It says that the current fee covers only 36
percent of the cost of aviation security.
• $1.4 billion for
Immigration and Customs Enforcement programs "to ensure that
illegal aliens who commit crimes are expeditiously identified and
removed from the United States."
• $110 million to expand the E-Verify program, an electronic
employment eligibility verification system.
Transportation
• Funding for the Department of Transportation increases by $2
billion in the proposed FY 2010 budget. It climbs from $70.5
billion in FY 2009 to $72.5 billion in FY 2010.
• The Transportation Department received another $48.1 billion
in the stimulus package.
• The proposed FY 2010 budget includes a five-year $5 billion
high-speed rail state grant program.
This money would
come on top of the $8 billion already allocated to high-speed rail
in the stimulus package.
The administration
envisions the creation of environmentally-friendly "high-speed rail
corridors across the country linking regional population
centers."
• The proposed FY
2010 budget includes $800 million to upgrade the air traffic
control system.
Commerce
• Overall funding for the Commerce Department jumps by $4.5
billion, from $9.3 billion to $13.8 billion -- a more than 50
percent increase. Why? The Census.
Almost all of the increase in funding is dedicated to ensuring
the department has "the resources it needs to complete the 2010
Decennial Census effectively, efficiently, and ontime."
• The Commerce
Department also received $1 billion in the stimulus package.
Veterans
• Department of
Veterans Affairs funding would increase by $5.5 billion under
Obama's proposed FY 2010 budget. It would increase from $50.4
billion to $55.9 billion. The VA also received an additional $1.4
billion in the stimulus package.
• Funding for the
VA under the FY 2010 budget is projected to increase by $25 billion
over the next five years. The budget "expands eligibility for
veterans health care to over 500,000 veterans by 2013."
• The proposed FY
2010 budget "expands eligibility for VA health care to non-disabled
veterans earning modest incomes ... for the first time since
January 2003."
• Under the proposed FY 2010 budget, "for the first time, highly
disabled veterans who are medically retired from service will be
eligible for concurrent receipt of disability benefits from VA in
addition to Department of Defense retirement benefits."
• Under the FY 2010 budget, the Defense Department will add 21
new Warrior in Transition complexes. These complexes provide
comprehensive rehabilitative care for wounded veterans. The budget
does not indicate the current total number of Warrior in Transition
complexes.
• The FY 2010 budget expands mental health screening and
treatment services offered by the VA.
Agriculture
• Agriculture
Department funding would increase by $1.4 billion under Obama's
proposed FY 2010 budget, from $24.6 billion to $26 billion.
The Agriculture
Department also received an additional $6.9 billion in the stimulus
package.
• Obama's proposed
FY 2010 budget "phases out direct payments over three years to
farmers with sales revenue of more than $500,000 annually."
The document goes
on to state that currently, "direct payments are made to even large
producers regardless of crop prices, losses or whether the land is
still under production. The program was introduced in the 1996 Farm
Bill as a temporary payment scheduled to expire, but was included
in the 2002 and 2008 Farm Bills. ... Large farmers are well
positioned to replace those payments with alternative sources of
income from emerging markets for environmental services, such as
carbon sequestration, renewable energy production, and providing
clean air, clean water, and wildlife habitat."
• The proposed FY
2010 budget cuts Market Access Program "funding for overseas brand
promotion [and] minimizes the benefits that large for-profit
entities indirectly gain as members of trade associations who also
participate in MAP." It states that an "annual funding reduction of
20 percent will reduce federal spending and place a greater
emphasis on promoting generic American products overseas."
• The budget also
cuts cotton subsidies. The budget "proposes to eliminate the
requirement for the government to pay the storage costs of cotton
that is put under loan by the USDA. Cotton is the only commodity
for which this assistance is provided."
• The budget
provides $1.3 billion in loans and grants to increase rural
broadband capacity and improve rural telecommunication service.
•
The budget boosts funding for "food safety inspection and
assessment and the ability to determine food safety
risks."