Obama's 2015 budget focuses on boosting economy

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama is sending Congress a $3.9 trillion election-year budget that would funnel money into road building, education and other programs aimed at bolstering the economy and creating jobs.

From its tax boosts on the wealthy to its spending for pre-school and job training, the budget introduced Tuesday gives Democrats a playbook illustrating their campaign-season theme of closing the widening income gap between rich and poor.

However, election-year pressures and gridlock between the Democratic-run Senate and Republican-led House mean much of Obama's proposals will go nowhere. Many of the proposals were in earlier budgets and ignored.

Obama's blueprint is for fiscal 2015, which begins Oct. 1, and would leave a federal deficit that year of $564 billion. That would be well below the recession-driven record worst of $1.4 trillion in 2009.