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             Obama Urges Congress to Delay Automatic Spending Cuts

   by VOA News

   U.S. President Barack Obama has urged Congress to delay automatic
   spending cuts set for March 1.
   Speaking at the White House, Obama called for lawmakers to quickly pass
   a package of limited spending cuts and tax reforms until they can come
   up with a "smarter solution" to the nation's debt problems.  He
   acknowledged that reaching agreement on a full budget may not happen
   before the March 1 deadline.
   The $1.2 trillion package of automatic cuts to domestic and defense
   programs is known as a "sequester."
   A White House statement said "uncertainty around the sequester is
   already having a negative impact" on the nation's economic growth.
   Last week, the government reported the U.S. economy shrank unexpectedly
   in the final three months of last year, partly because of lower defense
   spending.
   Lawmakers established the automatic budget cuts in August 2011 as part
   of an agreement to raise the U.S. debt ceiling. The deal specified that
   the cuts would go into effect this past January if a special
   "supercommittee" failed to trim the deficit by an equal amount over a
   period of 10 years.
   The supercommittee failed, forcing Congress to act to delay the cuts,
   which, coupled with automatic tax increases, were dubbed the "fiscal
   cliff."  But the lawmakers' January 1 agreement, which raised tax rates
   on the wealthiest Americans, only postponed the cuts for two months.
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   [1]http://www.voanews.com/content/delay-automatic-spending-cuts-obama-t
   ells-congress/1597752.html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/delay-automatic-spending-cuts-obama-tells-congress/1597752.html