美国削减开支的斗争仍在继续

85 billion US dollars worth of deep budget cuts are due to hit the U.S. economy in a little over a week. The so called sequester will affect spending across the board, from schools to the military and the political bickering has reached fever pitch. Now a group of old Washington hands is unveiling a new plan to cut spending in hopes of finding middle ground.

When Capitol Hill seizes up in political paralysis.Washington turns to this pair of Bi-partisan "deficit hawks"-former White House Chief of Staff Erskine Bowles and former US Senator Alan Simpson.

Their latest proposal adds to a deficit reduction plan-already endorsed by US President Barack Obama. It asks Congress to replace "dumb cuts" with "smart reforms."

What Obama calls dumb are the 85 billion US dollars in spending cuts slashed from the US budget starting March first. As an alternative to what Obama calls a "meat cleaver" approach-the Erskine Bowles plan will slice 2.4 trillion US dollars from the budget over 10 years through proposals that are equal parts health care reform, tax reform and mandatory spending cuts.

Finally, they’re propose a way to make social safety net programs for the elderly sustainable.

Erskine Bowles, Former White House official, said, "If, in fact, we’re actually going to get a bipartisan deal, that we’re gonna have to push both sides to get out of their comfort zones and to make the kind of compromises we need to make to get something done."

Both sides will have something to grumble about. The proposal hacks almost a trillion US dollars more from the budget than the White House wanted, but and is still around a trillion-and-a-half dollars less than the cuts House Republicans want.

Meantime, President Barack Obama held his second press conference Tuesday calling on Congress to stop the automatic cuts next week which he says will threaten jobs in defense, health care and education.

Obama said, "These cuts are not smart. They are not fair. They will hurt our economy. They will add hundreds of Americans to the unemployment rolls."

John Boehner, the lead Republican negotiator in the House responded quote:

"the president offered no credible plan that can pass Congress, only more calls for higher taxes."

Former US Senator, Alan Simpson suggests there’s an imperative for the president to reduce the US deficit and keep government’s promises to Americans.

He said, "He knows what to do. If he doesn’t get a handle on the entitlements and the solvency of Social Security, he will have a failed presidency."

US government departments have already notified their employees of the pending budget cuts, which will include 22 days of unpaid leave for most of the Pentagon’s 800,000 civilian employees. Pentagon officials say the 46 billion US dollars in defense spending cuts will erode the US military’s ability to wage war.