“The White House sent a massive, 1,650-page document into the world Tuesday to languish.

“President Obama’s fiscal 2015 budget was immediately dismissed by congressional Republicans as a “campaign brochure” providing massive increases in spending for Democratic programs while offsetting the costs with tax-loophole closures that Republicans have repeatedly insisted they will not accept.

“The White House acknowledged the wish-list nature of the document. “In light of congressional Republicans’ unwillingness to negotiate on fundamental issues and agree to a balanced plan to deal with our long-term fiscal challenges, this year the administration is returning to a more traditional budget presentation that lays out the president’s vision,” the proposal said.”

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“Obama’s additional $56 billion in spending still produced some trade-offs for the president to remain within the congressionally set limits. Wall Street-reform advocates balked at the lower level of funding requested for the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which regulates derivatives, than Obama requested the previous year (the requested level is higher than the CFTC’s current budget). “It really is inexplicable that the smallest, least-funded agency with such a critical mission, that they would ask for less resources for,” said Dennis Kelleher, president of the financial-reform group Better Markets.”

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Read full National Journal article here