WASHINGTON — Barack Obama’s budget is more a political road map than a problem-solver.

Make no mistake, this budget won’t be the one Congress approves. It is just the formal beginning of what usually is a long and noisy fight over how to raise and spend money.

The 2012 plan submitted to Congress on Monday is Obama’s frame for the debate with Republicans over the highly political act of writing next year’s budget.

After firing the first shot, the president then gets to play defense as his plan is rewritten in the House and Senate.

The Democratic left, angered and disappointed with Obama spending cuts, and a Republican right, which is eager for even deeper government cuts, are eager to leave their imprints.

First, however, Congress is hurtling toward a potential government shutdown deadline less than three weeks from now because the sides have been unable to agree on the 2011 budget.