Monday, 23 February 2009
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How much crap can we take?
Obama promises to halve deficit
President Obama was addressing a conference of state governorsUS President Barack Obama has said he will halve the budget deficit he inherited from the Bush administration by 2013.
The promise comes despite the huge amounts of money he plans to spend on his economic stimulus package.
Mr Obama also announced that he has put Vice-President Joe Biden in charge of overseeing the implementation of the $787bn (£540bn) package.
Former secret service agent Earl Devaney will be the plan's watchdog.
Mr Devaney's new job will be as chairman of the Recovery Act Transparency and Accountability Board and he will have to ensure that the stimulus funds are not wasted.
"He looks like an inspector, he's tough, you know he barely cracks a smile," the president said.
Healthcare funding
The president also said that $15bn would be released on Wednesday to help states pay their healthcare bills.
Some states have been struggling to pay for their Medicaid programmes, which provide healthcare for people on low incomes.
"By the time most of you get home, money will be waiting to help 20 million vulnerable Americans in your states keep their healthcare coverage," the president said.
Speaking to a gathering of state governors, he warned that if they wasted any of the stimulus funds, he would "call them out on it".Copied from BBCI don't know about you, but I'd like to see him pull this off. Frankly, I think we should all record this statement, and throw it in his face in exactly 3.5 years, and see what he does. Then again, the response is already made. It will say something about not being able to finish his plan because we handed him a Republican Congress, or that he has to get re-elected to finish his grand scheme, and if we do, then it doesn't matter, cause he'll never be up for re-election anyway.
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