Obama vows to secure deal on deficit

President Barack Obama voiced confidence that if re-elected he would secure within six months a deficit-reduction deal with Republicans equivalent to the “grand bargain” he failed to achieve last year.

Obama made the bold prediction in an interview on Tuesday with the Des Moines Register which was originally off the record.

The White House released it last night after the editor of the newspaper, which is still deciding its presidential endorsement, wrote a blistering blog complaining of the restriction.