Today's Papers: Barack The Knife

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today's papers Barack The Knife By Roger McShane Posted Sunday, Feb. 22, 2009, at 6:03 AM ET The New York Times and Los Angeles Times lead with Barack Obama's first budget and his plan to cut the deficit in half by the end of his term. All of the papers note that the reduction will come primarily from higher taxes on the wealthy and lower spending in Iraq. While the Washington Post fronts the Obama plan, it chooses to lead with the more sensational news of a possible arrest in the eight-year-old murder case of Chandra Levy. The Post has long been infatuated with the Levy case, describing it as "one of the most famous unsolved homicide cases in Washington history." The WP and LAT call the president's first budget "ambitious." Obama hopes to use the plan to make progress on health-care reform and move toward a cap-and-trade system for energy use. But the effort to "cut" (LAT), "slash" (NYT) or merely "trim" (WP) the deficit grabs the headlines. To do this, Obama will let most of George Bush's tax cuts expire in 2011 for those making over $250,000. The Post alone adds a touch of skepticism, noting that some "question the wisdom of announcing a plan to raise taxes in the midst of a recession." On Iraq, Obama had previously expected to save $90 billion a year by withdrawing combat troops. But the NYT says "it is not clear how much any savings would be offset by increased spending in Afghanistan." The full details of the budget won't be released until April. To continue reading, click here. Roger McShane writes for the Economist online. Join the Fray: our reader discussion forum What did you think of this article? POST A MESSAGE | READ MESSAGES Also In Slate How the Recession Is Crushing American Marriages Is It Obama's Fault the Dow Is Tanking? Fashion Designers Battle Recession With Shoulder Pads	Advertisement
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