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| Version 2 | Version 3 |
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| Obama warns budget cuts will cause job losses | Obama warns budget cuts will cause job losses |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| US President Barack Obama has warned Congress "people will lose their jobs" if deep budget cuts are allowed to take effect next week. | US President Barack Obama has warned Congress "people will lose their jobs" if deep budget cuts are allowed to take effect next week. |
| Mr Obama said $85bn (£55bn) in cuts was a harmful, "meat-cleaver approach" to deficit reduction, as he stood with emergency workers at the White House. | Mr Obama said $85bn (£55bn) in cuts was a harmful, "meat-cleaver approach" to deficit reduction, as he stood with emergency workers at the White House. |
| He also offered targeted spending cuts, supporting a proposal similar to that outlined by Senate Democrats last week. | He also offered targeted spending cuts, supporting a proposal similar to that outlined by Senate Democrats last week. |
| Mr Obama has just returned from a three-day golf trip in Florida. | Mr Obama has just returned from a three-day golf trip in Florida. |
| Over the weekend, the president played a round with Tiger Woods. | Over the weekend, the president played a round with Tiger Woods. |
| 'Blocking tax reform' | 'Blocking tax reform' |
| Mr Obama said the deep, across-the-board spending cuts had originally been designed because they were so unattractive and unappealing that they would spur politicians to work together. | Mr Obama said the deep, across-the-board spending cuts had originally been designed because they were so unattractive and unappealing that they would spur politicians to work together. |
| The president said: "These cuts are not smart, they are not fair, they will hurt the economy. This is not an abstraction. People will lose their jobs." | |
| Mr Obama said that while he was open to cutting back on unsuccessful or unnecessary government programmes, he accused Republicans of "ideological rigidity" for opposing tax increases. | Mr Obama said that while he was open to cutting back on unsuccessful or unnecessary government programmes, he accused Republicans of "ideological rigidity" for opposing tax increases. |
| He proposed closing some tax loopholes to increase revenue, and backed a budget plan put together by Senate Democrats last week. | He proposed closing some tax loopholes to increase revenue, and backed a budget plan put together by Senate Democrats last week. |
| Congressional Republicans have given a frosty reception to the Senate proposal. | Congressional Republicans have given a frosty reception to the Senate proposal. |
| They point out that Mr Obama already won a revenue increase in the new year, when Congress allowed taxes to rise on families making more than $450,000 annually. | They point out that Mr Obama already won a revenue increase in the new year, when Congress allowed taxes to rise on families making more than $450,000 annually. |
| Democrats have suggested increasing revenues by closing some tax loopholes, including tax breaks for the oil and natural gas industry, for businesses that have outsourced labour and ensuring millionaires pay a tax rate of at least 30%. | Democrats have suggested increasing revenues by closing some tax loopholes, including tax breaks for the oil and natural gas industry, for businesses that have outsourced labour and ensuring millionaires pay a tax rate of at least 30%. |
| The Democratic plan does not include any changes to costly federal programmes such as Medicare and Social Security. | The Democratic plan does not include any changes to costly federal programmes such as Medicare and Social Security. |
| Many Republicans have supported the idea of closing some loopholes, but they say the changes should be part of a broader overhaul of the tax code, not a way to plug spending gaps. | Many Republicans have supported the idea of closing some loopholes, but they say the changes should be part of a broader overhaul of the tax code, not a way to plug spending gaps. |
| The "sequester" was originally due to take effect on 1 January, along with a series of other measures known as the fiscal cliff. | The "sequester" was originally due to take effect on 1 January, along with a series of other measures known as the fiscal cliff. |
| But, amid dire warnings that the package of across-the-board spending cuts and tax increases could tip the US back into recession, lawmakers pushed back the spending cuts by two months, saying it would give them time to shape a larger budget deal. | But, amid dire warnings that the package of across-the-board spending cuts and tax increases could tip the US back into recession, lawmakers pushed back the spending cuts by two months, saying it would give them time to shape a larger budget deal. |
| But little progress on such a plan has been seen in recent weeks. | But little progress on such a plan has been seen in recent weeks. |
| Also on Tuesday, a bipartisan proposal from the co-chairs of a deficit-reduction committee recommended the government find savings of $2.4tn over the next 10 years. | |
| In December, the Congressional Research Service said the budget deficit as a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP) had not been so high since just after the end of World War II. |