Budget

Obama Tells Congress to Watch Red Ink

Wants Congress to control spending.

President Obama is getting tougher on spending. On Tuesday, Obama urged Congress to pass "pay-as-you-go" legislation that would, as Reuters puts it, "require new tax cuts and automatic spending programs to be paid for within the budget" through either tax hikes or spending cuts. This year's budget-deficit forecast shows a whopping $1.84 trillion deficit, worth 12.9 percent of the gross domestic product. Republicans have said that Obama's health care plan, one of the president's top domestic priorities, would only add to America's spending problem. Last week, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke warned that large deficits drive up long-term interest rates.