A guide to the big differences between Congress' and Obama's 2016 budget proposals

Budget season is upon us, that magical time of year in which the parties announce bold visions of the future of the American experiment and/or mild adjustments to the near-term trajectory of federal outlays and revenues. The White House and the Republican-controlled Senate and House Budget Committees have unveiled their spending plans, meaning all three major players are on the record.

The Senate and House budgets are both attempts to balance the budget within ten years, which results in large-scale cuts, the vast majority of which affect programs for low-income...