Obama Budget plan live: US President to target middle class in $4 trillion budget

Budget foresees a $474 billion deficit

U.S. Speaker of the House John Boehner listens to President Barack Obama deliver the State of the Union address. (Mandel Ngan-Pool | Getty Images)

President Barack Obama will propose a $3.99 trillion budget for 2016 and prepare for a battle with Republicans over programmes to help the US middle class that are funded by higher taxes on corporations and wealthy Americans.

The key points are:

• The budget foresees a $474 billion deficit, which is 2.5 per cent of US gross domestic product.
• Mr Obama wants to close loopholes that allow major companies such as Google and Apple to reduce their tax liabilities by moving their corporate offices out of the US.
• The budget being proposed by the president fleshes out proposals from his State of the Union address last month and helps highlight Democratic priorities for the last two years of his presidency and the beginning of the 2016 presidential campaign.
• Obama has said: “There are going to be areas where we get big disagreements, but what I want us to focus on is the areas  we have in common."

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