Winners, Losers in Obama's Budget

Kent Conrad, this is not going to be fun
By Polly Davis Doig,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 14, 2011 7:00 PM CST
Winners, Losers in Obama's Budget
President Barack Obama speaks at Parkville Middle School and Center of Technology, in Parkville, Md., Monday, Feb., 14, 2011. At right is Office of Management and Budget Director Jacob Lew.   (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

President Obama released his budget today, giving pretty much everyone an ax to grind. But Meredith Shiner over at Politico runs down a list of the winners—as well as the losers—in the president's 208-page financial blueprint.

Winners

  • Arne Duncan: Betting big on bipartisan support for education reform, the president tossed $77.4 billion at the Education Department.

  • Alan Simpson and Erskine Bowles: The deficit commission honchos could end up with a real "I told you so" moment—and their recommendations might have significant sway.
Losers
  • The far left: From Pell grants to Medicaid, lefties' pet programs felt the knife; and some, like Bernie Sanders, are up in arms about it.
  • Kent Conrad: The Senate Budget chair has to wrangle consensus from the House's stubborn GOP majority, ticked-off Dems, and a lumbering Senate, notes Shiner—a Herculean task at best. At least he doesn't have to worry about re-election.
Click for the rest of the list. (More President Obama stories.)

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