Obama to Propose Middle-Ground Budget Cuts

The budget cuts President Obama will propose tomorrow likely won’t be as deep as Republicans want, but they will nonetheless promise $1.1 trillion in deficit reductions over the next decade, according to a senior administration official. Among the proposed areas to be affected in the fiscal 2012 budget: forestry and public-health programs, low-income heating assistance, and military spending, the New York Times reports. Two-thirds of the savings would come from cuts; the final third from higher taxes, the Washington Post adds.

Obama is seeking middle ground with this proposal. A spending freeze will also be proposed, as well as no pay raises for five years for federal workers, but the president wants to continue to invest in programs like high-speed rail and Internet broadband, the Los Angeles Times notes—and he’s not touching Medicare. While the deficit—which could approach $12 trillion through 2021—won’t be impacted much, the proposal would at least stabilize borrowing, the official says.
(More 2012 budget stories.)