Obama Says Goverment Will Be Open for Business After Deal

Democrats and Republicans are racing to reach a 2011 spending compromise, with time running short to avert a U.S. government shutdown threatened for week's end. Photographer: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg

President Barack Obama said he and congressional leaders reached an agreement on a budget for the rest of the fiscal year, averting the first government shutdown in 15 years with one hour to spare.

“Today, Americans of different beliefs came together again,” the president said at the White House. “Like any worthwhile compromise, both sides had to make tough decisions.”

His remarks came between separate announcements at the Capitol by House Speaker John Boehner and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

“It took a lot of discussion and a long fight to get there,” Boehner, an Ohio Republican, said after meeting with members of his caucus.

Reid, a Nevada Democrat, called the negotiations “grueling.”

“We didn’t do it at this late hour for drama,” Reid said. “We did it because it’s been very hard to arrive at this point.”

The accord would slash $38.5 billion from the budget for the 2011 fiscal year, according to a statement released by Reid and Boehner. Democrats accepted the spending cuts after an agreement was reached to jettison some Republican provisions that would have cut funds for Planned Parenthood and blocked environmental rules.
Spending Cuts

“We also made sure that, at the end of the day, this was a debate about spending cuts, not social issues,” Obama said.

Less than 15 minutes after Obama spoke, the Senate approved by voice vote a stopgap spending measure that would fund government operations into next week while lawmakers draft legislation implementing the agreement. The House of Representatives was expected to pass that temporary measure later tonight.

Obama said the budget agreement would be the start of the country “beginning to live within our means” by making the largest spending cuts in the nation’s history while preserving priorities such as education, clean energy and medical research.

However, Obama warned that some programs would be cut and infrastructure projects would be delayed.

“Some of the cuts we agreed to will be painful,” he said.

To contact the reporters on this story: Nicholas Johnston in Washington at njohnston3@bloomberg.net; Julianna Goldman in Washington at jgoldman6@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Mark Silva at msilva34@bloomberg.net

source: http://www.bloomberg.com