BEIJING, Feb. 20 (Xinhuanet) -- US President Barack Obama has renewed pressure on congressional Republicans to head off budget cuts that are due to begin on March 1st. Obama is trying to convince Congress to stall the cuts by ending tax breaks enjoyed mainly by wealthy Americans.

With both houses of Congress off this week, there seemed to be little movement toward a compromise. Unless there is a deal, about 85 billion US dollars in across-the-board spending cuts will begin in March as part of a decade-long 1.2 trillion US dollar budget savings plan. Meanwhile, a bipartisan fiscal commission appointed by Obama added to the spending debate by proposing its own plan for 2.4 trillion US dollars in deficit reductions over 10 years.

Under the March 1st sequestration budget measures, half the cuts would be shouldered by the Pentagon and the other half scattered among many other government agencies. The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office has estimated that these cuts would hold back US growth and prevent the creation of about 750,000 jobs in 2013.

(Source: cntv.com)