U.S. President Barack Obama says his first budget proposal, which projects spending of more than $3 trillion dollars, seeks to address the country's most immediate needs.
Mr. Obama is forecasting a $1.75 trillion deficit for 2009 in the proposal, which is being sent to Congress Thursday. The president, at an event at the White House complex, said Thursday his plan makes clear how much is being spent for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan by including the funding in the budget for the first time.
Mr. Obama said he inherited a trillion dollar deficit from his predecessor, former President George Bush, and that the current government must first focus on what is needed to move the country forward.
Mr. Obama's 2010 budget outline includes an additional $250 billion to boost the teetering U.S. financial system, which has already received more than $700 billion since late last year. The president also wants a $634 billion fund to reform the U.S. health care system and expand coverage in the system in which more than 40 million Americans are uninsured.