WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama says he is willing to make deeper spending cuts if Congress can compromise on a budget deal that would end the threat of a government shutdown.
Obama’s appeal for common ground came Saturday in his weekly radio and Internet address but lacked specifics on how to bridge the $50 billion gulf that divides the White House and Democratic budget proposal from the deeper cuts sought by Republicans.
The competing plans are headed for test votes in the Senate in the coming week. Neither is expected to survive, setting the stage for further negotiations. The government is running on a temporary spending bill that expires March 18.
Republicans used their weekly address to reject Obama’s approach on the budget. “You may have heard President Obama say that we need to make sure ‘we’re living within our means,’ ” said freshman Rep. Diane Black, R-Tenn. “He’s right about that.” The Associated Press
