White House to paint grim fiscal picture: may build support for a bipartisan cutting commission

[Karmadillo]

Does this mean massive defense cuts, cost-saving single-payer, and a public jobs program to kick start employment are on the agenda? Well, probably not. But I would guess Social Security will be dreaming of sharks tonight.

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE60U1PZ20100201

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House will predict a $1.6 trillion U.S. budget deficit in the 2010 fiscal year, a fresh record and the biggest since World War Two as a share of the economy, a congressional source told Reuters on Sunday.

The grim forecast adds to the challenges facing President Barack Obama, who is emphasizing a message of fiscal discipline but is also seeking stimulus measures to boost the struggling economy in the near term.

Obama's budget proposal, which will be released at 10 a.m. EST on Monday, will predict a narrowing of the deficits to $700 billion by fiscal 2013 before they gradually rise back to $1 trillion by the end of the decade, the Capitol Hill source said.

He will submit his spending blueprint for the 2011 fiscal year that begins October 1 and runs through September 30 next year.

Obama is trying to strike a balance between long-term deficit reduction and easing the pain of double-digit unemployment through proposals such as tax credits to encourage business hiring and tax breaks for middle class families.

<edit>

China, the biggest foreign holder of U.S. Treasuries, has urged the United States to get its fiscal house in order.

The bleak numbers could help build support for a bipartisan commission proposed by the White House that would recommend ways to address the budget problems.

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[villager]

1. Oh I'm sure "defense" cuts will be "off the table..."

n/t

[Brickbat]

2. How appropriate that the only thing you can get the two sides to work on together is cutting.

In other words, wrecking.

[msongs]

3. let's have some more wars and photo ops too keep us amused nt

[DJ13]

4. Im waiting for the first MSM reporter to have the guts to tell the people

That our government is being told to follow an austerity program by outside forces, like the IMF or China.

Can you imagine the outcry?

[MadHound]

5. There goes Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid,

Defense spending on the chopping block, don't jest. No, Obama has been wanting to tear into these "entitlement" programs for a while now.

[leftstreet]

6. K&InvisibleR

[ddeclue]

7. Raise taxes on the rich and corporations, tax Chinese imports.

Problem solved.

[Hardrada]

8. This wonderfully combines an Austerity Program and Trickle-Down Economics.

We are so going to take to the barricades if they start whacking the poor again and favoring the corporate scumbags who got us into all this.

[Karmadillo]

10. I hope you're right. Our passivity in the face of constant provocation isn't doing us much good.

nt

[xchrom]

9. Obamacare for what's left after insurance care. Nt