WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama on Saturday endorsed a bipartisan plan to name a special task force charged with coming up with a proposal to curb the spiraling budget deficit, though the idea has lots of opposition from both his allies and rivals on Capitol Hill.
The bipartisan 18-member panel would study the issue for much of the year and — if at least half of the GOP panel members agree, a big obstacle — report a deficit reduction blueprint after the November elections that would be voted on before the new Congress convenes next year.
“These deficits did not happen overnight, and they won’t be solved overnight,” Obama said in a statement. “The only way to solve our long-term fiscal challenge is to solve it together — Democrats and Republicans.”
First, however, the plan will have to pass the Senate on Tuesday, where a vote has been scheduled.
The Associated Press
