Liviagray
Jun 18th, 2009, 11:51 PM
By JENNIFER LOVEN and LIZ SIDOTI, Associated Press Writers Jennifer Loven And Liz Sidoti, Associated Press Writers – Thu Jun 18, 9:00 pm ET
WASHINGTON – The solid armor of President Barack Obama's popularity may have a crack — a nearly $2 trillion-sized one.
There's continued and considerable public restiveness over eye-popping federal budget deficits, a potential danger for both Obama's ambitious agenda and his political fortunes.
About $1.3 trillion when Obama took office, this year's deficit now is on track to soar to a record $1.85 trillion after his massive influx of federal spending to stimulate the moribund economy, help struggling homeowners, stabilize frozen credit markets and bail out troubled banks, automakers and insurers.
Shortly after his November election, the president-elect said: "We shouldn't worry about the deficit next year or even the year after" because righting the economy should take precedence. Seven months later, he declared that the deficit problem "keeps me awake at night."
He's mindful of this: The public's lingering wariness over a government plunging deeper into the red threatens to turn into a major liability. As he said in April: "We also have a deficit — a confidence gap — when it comes to the American people."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090619/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_obama_deficits_analysis
WASHINGTON – The solid armor of President Barack Obama's popularity may have a crack — a nearly $2 trillion-sized one.
There's continued and considerable public restiveness over eye-popping federal budget deficits, a potential danger for both Obama's ambitious agenda and his political fortunes.
About $1.3 trillion when Obama took office, this year's deficit now is on track to soar to a record $1.85 trillion after his massive influx of federal spending to stimulate the moribund economy, help struggling homeowners, stabilize frozen credit markets and bail out troubled banks, automakers and insurers.
Shortly after his November election, the president-elect said: "We shouldn't worry about the deficit next year or even the year after" because righting the economy should take precedence. Seven months later, he declared that the deficit problem "keeps me awake at night."
He's mindful of this: The public's lingering wariness over a government plunging deeper into the red threatens to turn into a major liability. As he said in April: "We also have a deficit — a confidence gap — when it comes to the American people."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090619/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_obama_deficits_analysis