Obama unveils $3.6 trillion budget for 'new era'

From Marketwatch.com

Saying the time has come to "usher in a new era," President Barack Obama unveiled a sweeping $3.6 trillion budget for fiscal 2010 on Thursday, making a major down payment on his priorities and marking a historic shift toward more government involvement in health care, energy and education while raising taxes on the wealthiest Americans.

Sen. Judd Gregg, the New Hampshire Republican who withdrew as Obama's nominee to run the Commerce Department, called the budget a "missed opportunity."

"It raises taxes on all Americans, implements massive new spending and fails to make any tough choices to control the deficit and long-term fiscal crisis posed by the huge entitlement programs," Gregg said Thursday.

In addition to additional spending on energy and health care, the budget also contains a $250 billion "contingent reserve" in case the Treasury must act further to stabilize the financial system.