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                 Obama Urges Congress Act to Avert Budget Cuts

   by VOA News

   U.S. President Barack Obama is urging Congress to take action to avert
   the automatic budget cuts that are due to go into effect starting
   Friday.

   Obama said Monday the cuts will put thousands of people, including
   teachers, out of work. He said the uncertainty is already hurting the
   country, and that the longer the cuts are in effect, the worse the
   impact will be on the economy.

   "Unfortunately, in just four days, Congress is poised to allow a series
   of arbitrary, automatic budget cuts to kick in that will slow our
   economy, eliminate good jobs, and leave a lot of folks who are already
   pretty thinly stretched scrambling to figure out what to do," the
   president said.

   Obama made the comment during a meeting of state governors at the White
   House. He called on the governors to discuss what is at stake with
   their congressional delegations. He said governors know that compromise
   is essential in getting things done.

   The $85 billion budget cuts set to take effect on March 1 are known as
   the sequester.

   The president has called on Republicans to accept a plan by Senate
   Democrats to raise more revenue by ending certain tax exemptions for
   wealthy Americans and corporations.

   Republicans are opposed to raising any more government revenue after
   reaching a deal with Democrats to raise income-tax rates on wealthy
   Americans. That agreement postponed the original January 1 deadline for
   the sequester to occur.

   Some information for this report was provided by AP.
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   [1]http://www.voanews.com/content/obama-urges-congress-to-avoid-budget-
   cuts-sequester/1610467.html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/obama-urges-congress-to-avoid-budget-cuts-sequester/1610467.html