Obama’s 'Jetsons'-like vision for the future
The fool and his money will soon be parted. Thankfully for us.
Obama’s 'Jetsons'-like vision for the future
By POLITICO PRO STAFF
02/09/16 01:39 PM EST
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In his final budget, President Barack Obama envisions a future in which Americans send robots on missions to Mars, use self-driving cars and rely on new technology for clean and plentiful water.
The moon shot budget — which has about as much chance of being enacted as Jim Gilmore winning a primary — envisions a world with cheaper prescription drugs, free preschool for all and more power drawn from the wind and the sun. Federal computer networks would be better secured and the working poor without children would be eligible for tax credits.
Obama’s first budget seven years ago was similarly lofty, full of big ideas and the same kind of unbridled optimism — and received with open arms by a Democrat-controlled Congress. But for all the budget bravado outlined on paper, this document has no future: Congressional leaders rejected it even before its release.
Though it’s already a paperweight, the budget stands as a guide for a future Democratic president and reflects the party’s lurch to the left in 2016.
Here’s a sampling of the "Jetsons"-like vision of the future laid out in the fiscal 2017 spending plan:
The fool and his money will soon be parted. Thankfully for us.
Obama’s 'Jetsons'-like vision for the future
By POLITICO PRO STAFF
02/09/16 01:39 PM EST
Share on Facebook Share on Twitter
In his final budget, President Barack Obama envisions a future in which Americans send robots on missions to Mars, use self-driving cars and rely on new technology for clean and plentiful water.
The moon shot budget — which has about as much chance of being enacted as Jim Gilmore winning a primary — envisions a world with cheaper prescription drugs, free preschool for all and more power drawn from the wind and the sun. Federal computer networks would be better secured and the working poor without children would be eligible for tax credits.
Obama’s first budget seven years ago was similarly lofty, full of big ideas and the same kind of unbridled optimism — and received with open arms by a Democrat-controlled Congress. But for all the budget bravado outlined on paper, this document has no future: Congressional leaders rejected it even before its release.
Though it’s already a paperweight, the budget stands as a guide for a future Democratic president and reflects the party’s lurch to the left in 2016.
Here’s a sampling of the "Jetsons"-like vision of the future laid out in the fiscal 2017 spending plan:
- New “robotic missions to Mars and to the Sun” and research into “solar-electric propulsion” would get $19 billion;
- A $4 billion fund to boost self-driving car technology;
- Homeland Security’s intrusion detection and prevention system, Einstein, would get $471 million to fortify the entire federal government. Another $275 million would go to help agencies identify and respond to cyber risks;
- Childless workers and parents who don’t live with their children would see their tax credit doubled, and the eligibility age for single workers would be lowered to 21 — expansions endorsed by House Speaker Paul Ryan in 2014. The budget would also make the tax credit available to workers “with earnings up to about 150 percent of the poverty line." The combined proposals would cost nearly $67 billion over 10 years;
- The military would keep its edge with projects to develop more advanced navigation techniques, including using the micro-cameras and sensors on smartphones to make bombs more accurate. Other initiatives would create a fleet of micro-drones that can be kicked out of a fighter jet moving at Mach 0.9 or thrown into the air by a soldier in the Iraqi desert and a fleet of “self-driving” boats for the Navy that conduct surveillance close to shore without putting sailors at risk;
- High-speed rail and mass transit options would draw billions from a business tax overhaul and an oil tax. The $320 billion, 10-year plan would funnel an average of $10 billion per year toward programs that boost the safety and performance of new and old transit systems;
- Farmers and cities would be encouraged to use water-efficient technologies and more money would be invested in research and technologies to expand the water supply to the tune of $111.2 million;
- New tools would target high drug prices, including a new Medicaid federal-state negotiating pool for high-cost drugs that is estimated to save $5.8 billion over a decade, an idea borrowed from budgets past;
- A “preschool for all” proposal would create a massive expansion of pre-K over the coming years. Another proposal would expand child care so it's more accessible to low- and middle-income families;
- Wind and solar tax incentives would become permanent and the investment in clean energy programs would be doubled to $12.8 billion in 2021 from $6.4 billion in 2016;
- More wealthy people would pay a 3.8 percent investment tax imposed as part of Obama’s signature health care law, and the revenue would be used for Medicare;
- The beleaguered IRS would get a $1 billion, or 12 percent, budget boost.
