Sun., Feb. 22, 2009
WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama moves into a week that will test his political and economic artistry as he pushes forward with plans to spend unprecedented hundreds of billions to rescue the collapsing economy while also promising to cut America's record budget deficit.
The new administration will outline spending cuts to halve the federal budget deficit in four years by cutting Iraq war spending, raising taxes on wealthy Americans and turning efficiency experts loose on government outlays, an administration official said on Saturday.
The economic pincers gripping Obama's presidency will only be compounded by political dislocation. Republicans, especially the most conservative lawmakers and state governors, already are loudly attacking administration spending plans designed to put a floor under the failing economy.
But cutting the budget — a move Obama telegraphed in his weekly message to Americans on Saturday — is sure to stir anger among liberal Democrats who are determined to restore robust government spending on social programs.
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