By Jim Williams
Albuquerque, NM – New Mexico US Senator Tom Udall says cuts in the federal budget compromise reached late last week are, in his words, "pretty drastic". But the Democrat says the need to balance the budget is clear, with annual deficits now running at nearly 1 point 3 trillion dollars.
He notes that the compromise cuts 78 billion dollars from the president's current-year budget, the largest domestic spending cut in nearly 30 years. But Udall says he'll be taking a closer look at the cuts to determine their impact on New Mexico.
President Obama on Wednesday, April 13, 2011, will unveil his plan for the 2012 budget, which begins in October. Udall told reporters he would support tax increases as part of a broad approach to reducing the deficit. "We need to do it with spending cuts, we need to look at tax expenditures, we need to look at tax reform, and we also need to look at the revenue side," said Udall.
Udall also indicated he thinks Congress should raise the debt ceiling, which is currently at just over 14 trillion dollars. The federal Treasury has warned that the US is approaching its borrowing limit, and Udall says not raising it would hurt the nation's financial status in the world.