Obama budget gives Democrats a roadmap and GOP a target

WASHINGTON (AP) - It may not be DOA like other presidential budgets, but President Barack Obama’s initial offering provides plenty of goals for congressional Democrats and targets for Republicans.
   
The $3.6 trillion package contains ambitious plans to change health care, energy, farm payments, taxes and more.
   
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi calls it a “wonderful blueprint” that looks beyond reviving a weak economy and restoring order to the credit markets.
   
Republicans are seeing red, as in major deficit ink, along with higher taxes and soaring government spending.
   
House GOP leader John Boehner (BAY’-nur) of Ohio says Obama’s plan “is a job killer.“ He charges that it raises taxes on Americans in the middle of a recession.
   
The budget is likely to gain traction as an issue for the 2010 congressional election campaign.