Obama to increase defense budget to record high

Tuesday, 02 February 2010 05:13 PM Merck Maguddayao

United States (US) President Barack Obama plans to increase the US Defense budget in 2011 to a record USD708 billion (P32.9 trillion) today, reported Reuters.com.

The proposed budget is 3.4 percent higher than the current defense budget, and USD159 billion (P7.4 trillion) of it is intended for financing military missions in Arab countries Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan.

Though Obama asserted that the 2011 Defense budget will have cuts on “unnecessary defense programs” such as the continuous purchasing of C-17 planes and alternate engines for F-35 planes—the latter costs around USD300 billion (P13.9 trillion), and is dubbed the “largest weapons program in history.”

In spite of that, the 2011 Defense budget will allocate USD112.8 billion (P5.2 trillion) to weapons procurement, USD8 billion (P371.8 billion) higher than that provided by the 2010 Defense budget.

Moreover, portions of the 2011 Defense budget will also be used as a “very crucial investment” for the Stockpile Management Program, said Defense Undersecretary Ellen Tauscher on Defensenews.com.

The said program is aimed at “refurbishing” old nuclear warheads with “theft-proof and environmentally friendly” ones and will be supervised by the National Nuclear Security Administration, Tauscher explained.

Obama to increase tax credits on middle-class families

Meanwhile, the Obama administration plans to increase the child and dependent care tax credits, from USD1,200 (P55,775) to USD2,100 (P97,607) for middle-income families earning USD80,000 (P3.7 million) annually.

The Obama administration also plans to spend USD1.6 billion (P74.4 billion) for the 200,000 beneficiaries of the Childcare and Development Fund, and USD100 million (P4.7 billion) for “families caring for a relative.”

However, Filipino-American California resident Jacqui Conclara said in an Abs-cbnnews.com report that Obama's tax program is “not even enough compared to the actual expenses that [her] family pays for childcare.”

Add this page to your favorite Social Bookmarking websites