Obama To Ask For Short Term Budget Plan

WASHINGTON (AP) — White House officials say President Barack Obama will ask Congress to come up with tens of billions of dollars in short-term spending cuts and tax revenue to put off the automatic across the board cuts that are scheduled to kick in March 1.

Obama will make his request Tuesday afternoon in a public statement at the White House.

The automatic cuts, if they are allowed to proceed, could require widespread layoffs and indiscriminately affect defense programs and domestic spending accounts.

Obama will ask for a targeted way to reduce the deficit in the short term, perhaps several months.

White House officials say Congress needs more time to work out a 10-year plan worth more than $1 trillion in deficit reduction.