US President Barack Obama said Saturday new budget rules that say spending cuts must accompany spending increases will force Congress to "pay for what it spends, just like everybody else." Obama signed a bill Friday reinstating budget rules known as "paygo" - short for "pay as you go". In his weekly radio and Internet address, Obama said the "politics of the moment" often overwhelms the desire Democrats and Republicans have to produce balanced budgets- something the federal government legally is not required to do. "Now, Congress will have to pay for what it spends, just like everybody else," he said. Obama did not discuss raising the debt ceiling in his message. The president also repeated a promise to create, by executive order, a panel of Democrats and Republicans to suggest ways for closing the gap between what the government spends and what it collects in revenue. His proposal is weaker than a similar plan recently defeated by the Senate because Congress would not be required to vote on the presidential panel's recommendations. Obama was expected to sign the executive order as early as next week.
