Obama to meet Congressional leaders to discuss looming cuts

With wide-reaching budget cuts set to go into effect, U.S. President Barack Obama will travel to Capitol Hill for a meeting with top Democrat and Republican leadership, the White House confirmed Wednesday. Obama will meet with Republican Speaker of the House John Boehner, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, Democrat Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, and House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi to discuss the deep automatic federal spending cuts scheduled to take effect on Friday. For weeks, Republican lawmakers and the White House have sparred over how to avoid the USD 1.2 trillion cuts over the next decade, known as "sequester", which the Obama administration warns will endanger the nation's economic growth. According to White House spokesman Jay Carney, Obama had a "brief conversation" with congressional leaders to push for a deal. Obama has proposed a deal that includes closing tax loopholes that affect wealthier Americans. Republicans, who agreed to an increase in tax rates for households making more than USD 450,000 a year as part of the "fiscal cliff" deal that went into effect earlier this year, want a deal that focuses solely on cuts in government spending. Meanwhile, as the deadline draws near, the latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll shows the majority of Americans, 51 percent, say the contentious budget negotiations between Obama and Republicans makes them feel less confident about the U.S. economy, while only 16 percent say the talks make them feel more confident about the economy. But a combined 53 percent prefer that Congress move ahead with the current sequester cuts or a plan that contains even more cuts. Thirty-seven percent want a plan with fewer cuts.