Obama endorses task force to recommend ways to battle spiraling budget deficits
By APSaturday, January 23, 2010
Obama endorses deficit task force
WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama has endorsed a bipartisan plan to name a special task force charged with coming up with a plan to curb the spiraling budget deficit.
The bipartisan 18-member panel would study the issue for much of the year and report a deficit reduction blueprint after the November elections that would be voted on before the new Congress convenes next year.
Unlike a plan tentatively endorsed on Tuesday by the White House and Capitol Hill Democrats, the new task force would have to be approved by Congress, where there’s lots of opposition.
That’s because the plan endorsed Saturday would have the findings of the task force automatically receive a vote in both House and Senate, eroding the power of top Democrats.