WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama says it will be impossible to balance the budget if the government doesn’t tackle health care costs and boost economic growth.
Obama was answering Republican critics _ and some congressional analysts _ who forecast deficits of $9.3 trillion over the next 10 years based on the president’s budget.
He said he inherited a deficit that the Republicans had contributed to, and pointed out that the GOP has failed to come up with an alternative.
He said if he doesn’t address reliance on foreign oil, improve the education system and drive down the cost of health care that the economy won’t grow at either his rate of 2.6 percent, or the congressional budget analysts’ rate of 2.2 percent.
Obama spoke at a prime-time news conference.
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