Obama seeks to cut federal deficit by $1.1 trillion

PRESIDENT Barack Obama’s proposed budget for fiscal 2012 will seek to cut the record federal deficit by $1.1 trillion over the next 10 years, White House budget director Jack Lew said last night.

Lew, speaking on CNN, said the president was also on track to halve the budget deficit by the end of his first term in office, which goes through 2012.

Obama is set to present his budget to Congress today. He intends to get two-thirds of the savings from spending cuts and one-third from tax revenues, including by closing several tax loopholes, according to sources familiar with the budget.