Obama seeks more money for education, setting up showdown with Congress

“Congress didn’t do a great job last year. It drove right to the edge of the cliff on occasion after occasion,” Lew said. “A lot of that was because of the extreme conservative approach taken by House Republicans.”

According to a White House fact sheet, Obama’s budget will adhere closely to the approach he outlined in September in a submission to the congressional “supercommittee” that failed to agree on at least $1.2 trillion in additional spending cuts to keep across-the-board cuts from taking effect next January.

The Obama budget sticks to the caps on annual appropriations approved in August that will save $1 trillion over the next decade. It also puts forward $1.5 trillion in new taxes, primarily by allowing the Bush-era tax cuts expire at the end of this year for families making $250,000 or more per year.

Obama, as he has in the past, also proposed eliminating tax deductions the wealthy receive and would put in place a rule named for billionaire Warren Buffett that would seek to make sure that households making more than $1 million annually pay at least 30 percent of their income in taxes.

Obama also would impose a new $61 billion tax over 10 years on big banks aimed at recovering the costs of the financial bailout and providing money to help homeowners facing foreclosure on their homes. His plan would raise $41 billion over 10 years by eliminating tax breaks for oil, gas, and coal companies and claims significant savings from ending the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Lew said the budget would cut spending by $2.50 for every $1 in extra taxes it seeks.