US President Barack Obama has unveiled his 3 trillion-dollar-plus budget and sent it to Congress.
He is pledging for a "break from a troubled past" and stressing what he calls "the need for shared sacrifice among all Americans."
![US President Barack Obama (R) makes comments on the Fiscal Year 2010 budget with Vice President Joe Biden in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building Washington, DC. [Jim Watson/CCTV/AFP]](http://images.china.cn/attachement/jpg/site1007/20090227/000cf1a487730b11963229.jpg "US President Barack Obama (R) makes comments on the Fiscal Year 2010 budget with Vice President Joe Biden in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building Washington, DC. [Jim Watson/CCTV/AFP]") |
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US President Barack Obama (R) makes comments on the Fiscal Year 2010 budget with Vice President Joe Biden in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building Washington, DC. [Jim Watson/CCTV/AFP] |
The budget would boost taxes on the wealthy, curtail Medicare, lay the groundwork for universal health care and leave a string of deficits dwarfing any in the nation's history.
Obama also vowed to slash federal spending by 2 trillion dollars, and cut the nation's deficit in half by 2013.
He acknowledged that the US must add to its debt in the short run to restore American business vitality.
But at the same time, he said lowering the debt in the longer-term would be the only responsible approach to the country's fiscal policies.
(CCTV February 27, 2009)
