Obama: 2013 budget reflects “tough choices”

louis vuitton watches uk (MoneyWatch)  President Obama’s 2013 budget blends short-term stimulus spending aimed at boosting job-creation with longer term measures seeking to gradually balance the nation’s books.Speaking at Northern Virginia Community College in Annondale, Va., Obama echoed many of the themes that have featured in his recent speeches, including the need for all Americans to contribute their “fair share” and to play by the rules. “We’ve got to renew the American values of fair play and shared responsibility,” he said.Obama also said he is making “tough choices” in cutting government spending in order to put the.country on a sustainable economic path. Yet he warned that excessively large cutbacks would threaten the recovery, which he said is gaining strength. “The last thing we need is for Washington to stand in the way of America’s comeback,” he said in urging lawmakers to approve a two percent cut in payroll taxes. “Congress needs to stop taxes from going up on 160 million Americans,” he added.The budget for the government’s next fiscal year, which takes effect Oct. 1, would shrink the deficit by $4 trillion over the next 10 years by cutting federal spending and by raising taxes on people earning at least $250,000 per year. For 2013, the White House projects a deficit of $901 billion, or 5.5 percent of GDP. That figure is down from an estimated $1.33 trillion in fiscal-year 2012, 8.5 percent of GDP. The goal is to reduce the budget gap to 2.7 percent percent of GDP, or $575 billion, by 2018.

replica louis vuitton watches The plan calls for deficit reduction to be achieved chiefly by slashing government expenditures. Obama is proposing $2.50 in spending cuts for every $1 dollar the government would raise in revenue by raising taxes on high income-earners and from eliminating corporate tax breaks. Discretionary spending, annual government outlays approved by Congress on everything from health research and pollution control to education and child care, is slated to decline from 8.7 percent of GDP in 2011 to 5 percent in 2022. As part of these cuts backs, the defense budget would decrease $487 billion.Mandatory spending programs — those authorized by law, rather than set by Congress every year — also would take a hit. More than $360 billion in savings would come from trimming Medicare, Medicaid, and other health programs over 10 years, mostly by reducing payments to health care providers.The tax measures included in the budget have long been on Obama’s wishlist. He is pushing to let tax cuts for wealthier Americans enacted under President George W. Bush lapse, as scheduled, by year-end. Also on the agenda is the so-called Buffett rule, named after investor Warren Buffett, under which any U.S. household with annual income of more than $1 million would pay a minimum federal tax rate of 30 percent. These changes to the tax code would increase tax revenue by $1.5 trillion over 10 years, according to the White House.

replica louis vuitton sunglasses “That’s not class warfare, that’s common sense, ” Obama said in rejecting criticism that his tax proposals are unfair to wealthier Americans.One new source of revenue envisioned under the president’s budget — a “financial crisis responsibility fee” levied on big banks that would raise $61 billion over 10 years. The charge is aimed at repaying taxpayers for bailing out large financial firms in 2008 and 2009.To boost employment starting this year, Obama is asking for roughly $350 billion to extend and expand the payroll tax cut and to continue unemployment benefits through the end of the year. Part of that funding also would go toward rebuilding the nation’s roads, railways, and airport runways; renovating schools; and helping states and municipalities hire and retain teachers and emergency personnel. Greek lawmakers backed drastic cuts in wages, pensions and jobs on Sunday as the price of a 130 billion euro ($170 billion) bailout by the European Union and International Monetary Fund.But unrest in the streets and a voting rebellion by lawmakers of the ruling coalition suggested Greece may be on the brink of massive social unrest, which would make it difficult for Athens to stick to the rescue terms.

louis vuitton sunglasses for men The S&P 500 last week hit a 7-month high, in part on bets the Greek reforms would pass. The benchmark index traded near the 1,355 level, seen as a resistance point and possible trigger for a pullback.”Although we’re up, we still haven’t eclipsed the highs we did last week in some of the indexes,” said Bruce McCain, chief investment strategist at Key Private Bank in Cleveland. “It is a sign there was some more enthusiasm on the prospect (of the Greek deal) than on the news.”The S&P 500 is up more than 25 percent from a low in early October. McCain said he is worried that the recent market rally may have outpaced the economic improvement.”You have to respect the fact the market has been as strong as it has been, but we wouldn’t buy into this strength,” he said.The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI rose 82.27 points, or 0.64 percent, to 12,883.50. The S&P 500 Index .SPX gained 10.12 points, or 0.75 percent, to 1,352.76. The Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added 28.80 points, or 0.99 percent, to 2,932.68.Financial stocks .GSPF, up more than 1 percent, were among the best performers on the S&P 500, and bank shares led gains in Europe. A gauge of European banking stocks .SX7P gained 0.5 percent, and an index of Greek banks .FTATBNK surged 12.3 percent.

replica louis vuitton belts On Wall Street, Bank of America (BAC.N:行情) climbed 2.7 percent to $8.29 and is up almost 50 percent this year. Bank shares continue to outperform after having posted deep losses in 2011.Apple Inc (AAPL.O:行情) raised the stakes in an intensifying global patent battle with Samsung Electronics (005930) by targeting Samsung’s latest model using Google Inc’s (GOOG.O) fast-growing Android software.Apple shares rose 1.5 percent to $500.95 after reaching a record of $503.83, while Google rose 1.2 percent to $613.26.Google is expected to win approval from European regulators, as well as from U.S. antitrust authorities, for its planned $12.5 billion purchase of Motorola Mobility (MMI.N), according to people familiar with the matter.Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc (REGN.O) jumped 13 percent to $115.37 after the company significantly raised its 2012 sales forecast for a key eye drug.As earnings season moves into its final stages, 51 companies in the S&P 500 are scheduled to report results this week. According to Thomson Reuters data through Monday, of the 357 companies in the benchmark index that have released results, 64 percent have beaten analyst expectations.

louis vuitton belts uk Israel accused Iran and its ally Hezbollah of bombing an Israeli diplomat’s car in India and a foiled attempt to kill another diplomat in Georgia, as tensions rose over Israeli efforts to shut down Iran’s nuclear program.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blamed the attacks on Iran and linked them to alleged threats to Israeli targets in Thailand and Azerbaijan, Georgia’s southern neighbor, in January.”We will continue to operate methodically and patiently against international terror that originates in Iran,” he said, suggesting Israel didn’t plan to immediately retaliate.Indian security and forensic officials examine a car belonging to the Israeli Embassy after an explosion tore through the vehicle in New Delhi.An official at Iran’s embassy in New Delhi denied any Iranian involvement in the explosion or other attacks. “We condemn such incidents,” the official said.U.S. officials condemned the attacks and said they were working with Israeli intelligence agencies to investigate them, but stopped short of agreeing that Iran or its militant allies were responsible.Compounding the difficulty of pinning blame was the question of why Iran would stage a terrorist attack in New Delhi, the capital city of an important supporter. India last month surpassed China as Tehran’s top oil consumer, defying international pressure to cut back imports of Iranian oil.

louis vuitton luggage sale The nature of the bombing in New Delhi and the attempt in Georgia raised the prospect of escalating tit-for-tat strikes by Israel and Iran or its allies.In Delhi, a man riding a motorcycle attached what looked like a magnetic device to the embassy vehicle before the explosion, witnesses told Indian police—the same technique used to kill an Iranian scientist in Tehran in January.The wife of an employee of Israel’s defense mission was in the car in Delhi on Monday, on her way to pick up her children from the American school, a police official said. She was in stable condition after the attack and another person in the car was injured, Indian police said.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accuses Iran and its Lebanese ally Hezbollah of involvement after bombers target Israeli embassies in India and Georgia. Video courtesy of Reuters. (Photo: Getty Images)In the Georgian capital, Tbilisi, police defused a “quite powerful” explosive device found in the car of an employee of the Israeli Embassy, Georgia’s Interior Ministry said.The incidents in India and Georgia came a day after the anniversary of the assassination of Hezbollah military chief Imad Mughniyeh in 2008, a bombing for which the Lebanese organization vowed revenge against Israel.

replica louis vuitton travel bag The Mideast is already on edge over Iran’s threats to retaliate against sanctions intended to stop what the West believes, despite denials from Tehran, is a program aimed at building a nuclear weapon. Adding to tensions are occasional reminders by Israeli officials that they would consider a military strike on Iran if sanctions don’t work.While the U.S. has campaigned to ramp up economic pressure on Tehran to force it into negotiations, Israel has waged a covert campaign to derail the Iranian nuclear program, according to diplomats and security experts.In an effort to ease tensions after a defense conference in which Israeli officials gave the impression that Israel was planning a military strike, Mr. Netanyahu last week ordered ministers to stop talking about Iran.On Monday, that couldn’t be avoided, but Israeli officials sought to play down speculation that Iran was engaging in tit-for-tat revenge.Instead, they emphasized that Iran and Hezbollah have long tried to attack Israeli targets abroad, suggesting recent attempts were nothing new.That history held other lessons for some experts. The method of attack “shows they are kind of corresponding with Israel and the Mossad [Israeli intelligence service], as if to say, ‘Anything you can do, we can do the same,’ ” said Yossi Melman, an Israeli intelligence journalist for the Haaretz newspaper.

louis vuitton jewelry replica Mr. Melman said that the attack on a diplomatic spouse outside the embassy compound showed that those attacking Israel have limited abilities.”They prefer to hit a structure, or a higher-ranking target like an ambassador,” Mr. Melman said. “They decided to take advantage of what is available to them, which shows they are under enormous pressure to execute any type of attack.”Iranian officials had already raised the prospect of retaliation after the assassination of the Iranian scientist, Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan, in January.Iran blamed the January attack on the U.S. and Israel. The U.S. denied playing a role, while Israel declined to comment.Several days later, the U.S. Embassy in Thailand warned of possible terrorist attacks in Bangkok after police there detained a Lebanese man with alleged links to Hezbollah. Israel followed with a travel warning.Also last month, Azerbaijan alleged that an Iranian-linked group was plotting to carry out terrorist attacks in Baku.Azerbaijan on Monday denied Iranian claims that it had been helping Israeli spies plot attacks against Iran, after Iran’s Foreign Ministry summoned the Azeri ambassador in Tehran to protest alleged Israeli intelligence activity in the oil-rich former Soviet republic, the state-run Iranian Students News Agency reported.

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