White House seeks 'balanced way' to budget fix

The cuts, called the sequester, would drain US$85 billion from the government's budget over the coming seven months. Actual cuts may be around 13 percent for defense and 9 percent for other programs because lawmakers delayed their impact, requiring savings over a shorter period of time.

Last week, the White House last week let loose a list of ways Americans would feel the cuts, from longer waits at airport security to as many as 13,000 teachers being laid off. Outgoing Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta told a congressional panel that the sequester would hollow the U.S. military because it would give the Pentagon little leeway in deciding how best to spend the money.

Denis McDonough, Obama's chief of staff, warned the cuts would come as the stock market is coming back, the housing market has improved and the number of jobs has grown, and urged Congress to consider a balanced approach that would further strengthen the economy and, in turn, the middle class.

“This isn't a spending fight for us,” McDonough told NBC television's “Meet the Press.” “This is a fight about whether we're going to make the investments in middle class families in this country, in education, in science and technology, in food inspection, and those kinds of things.”

Senate Democrats last week offered a plan they say is a balanced approach of more revenue and budget cuts. The White House supports the proposal, but it drew an icy reception from Republicans, who say the president got the tax increases he wanted during the agreement in early January to avoid the fiscal cliff.

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