Obama: 'We can't just cut our way to prosperity'

President Barack Obama announced on Tuesday he would send a short-term budget proposal to Congress to avoid automatic cuts known as the sequester.

Speaking to reporters in the White House briefing room, Obama said he was taking the step because Congress appears unlikely to pass a balanced budget by March 1. Failure to do so by that date would trigger deep, across-the-board domestic and military spending cuts economists say could imperil the nation's fragile economic recovery.

"If Congress can't act immediately ... and get the bigger package done by the time the sequester is scheduled to go into effect, they should at least pass a smaller package of spending cuts and tax reforms that would delay the economically damaging effect of sequester," Obama said.

He added, "There is no reason that the jobs of thousands of Americans who work in national security or education or clean energy, not to mention the growth of the economy, should be put in jeopardy" by a failure to reach a broader deal.

Until now the White House has repeatedly sidestepped questions regarding how the president would respond to a sequester, saying it was never meant to be put into practice. The administration has blamed Republicans for the continued discussion.

Earlier in the day, after news of the president's plan was made public, House Speaker John Boehner released a statement defending his party and blaming Obama:

?President Obama first proposed the sequester and insisted it become law. Republicans have twice voted to replace these arbitrary cuts with common-sense cuts and reforms that protect our national defense. We believe there is a better way to reduce the deficit, but Americans do not support sacrificing real spending cuts for more tax hikes. The president?s sequester should be replaced with spending cuts and reforms that will start us on the path to balancing the budget in 10 years.?

Other Republicans blamed the president for failing to work with Congress.

House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy, for instance, issued a statement on Tuesday morning criticizing the president for failing to send his budget to Congress before the Feb. 4 deadline.

"The president has had five opportunities to do it, and he has missed the deadline four of the last five times. For baseball fans, that is a .200 batting average," McCarthy said.

The Senate has not passed a budget resolution since 2009, instead passing short-term fixes to keep the economy running.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/obama-request-short-term-budget-delay-154259483--politics.html

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