Obama open to a ‘big deal’ on budget, but wants revenues
Congress also must grapple with how to continue funding government operations after a stopgap funding measure expires March 27.
Obama has asked Republicans for a short-term budget package to avoid the deepest of the automatic spending cuts, but has said it needs to be “balanced”, that is, include some increases in revenue from closing tax loopholes. House Speaker John Boehner has said he would block any delay in those cuts unless other spending cuts and reforms are agreed to.
The White House has attacked congressional Republicans for suggesting they may be willing to let the harsh cuts — referred to as “sequestration” — go into effect automatically. Uncertainty over the year-end “fiscal cliff” led to steep reductions in defense spending, contributing to a contraction in the world’s largest economy’s output at the end of last year.
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