Obama and the GOP

Republicans and the Obama White House draw the battle lines for a political war over domestic spending. In his State of the Union speech and his address to the US Chamber of Commerce, President Obama has reached out to conservatives—at the same time he promotes what he calls “investments” in a “new economy.” Republicans now control the House of Representatives—where all financial legislation has to originate. They are divided over how many billions of dollars they’ll try to cut from the spending plan the President will unveil next week.