Orszag: House, Senate budget blueprints like Obama's

By GottaLaff

On track:

White House Budget Director Peter Orszag said Wednesday that the budget blueprints being taken up by the House and Senate almost mirror the proposal put forth by President Obama.

"If you look at budget resolutions in both House and Senate, they are from the same family as the president's budget," Orszag said. "The resolution may not be identical twins, but they are certainly brothers who look an awful lot alike."

Orszag said the administration was "very pleased" that the budget plans of Rep. John Spratt (D-S.C.) and Sen. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.), the chairmen of the budget committees in their respective chambers, have the same four priorities that the president's plan has: healthcare, energy, education and deficit reduction.

Orszag praised Spratt's and Conrad's proposals for cutting the $1.8 trillion deficit in fiscal year 2009 by more than half by 2013 and including a healthcare reserve fund.

Obama's plan sought to do the same, Orszag noted. [...]

But while Orszag highlighted the similarities between the plans' goals, he acknowledged differences in their approaches. The Obama plan spelled out how the administration would pay for the reserve fund, seen as a down payment on healthcare reform, by including a budget line for new tax revenue from limits on itemized tax deductions. The House and Senate proposals haven't specified how they will pay for the fund.

Orszag said that adjustments were "natural" during the legislative process...

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