President Barack Obama said on Wednesday the United States must work out how to control its long-term deficit without hurting an economic recovery, which remains hobbled by a battered housing market. Obama acknowledged the deficit is worrying Americans and said cutting it would raise the public's confidence, Reuters reported. "People, consumers, are not going to start spending until they feel a little more confident that the economy's getting stronger," Obama told a gathering of about 30 voters in the backyard of a home in Columbus. The president is on a three-day swing through important electoral states to tout his economic policies and raise millions of dollars for Democratic candidates campaigning for the Nov. 2 elections. The U.S. budget deficit is expected to reach $1.47 trillion for the 2010 fiscal year, according to White House estimates. The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office will release an update of its own projections on Thursday. "How do we, over the long term, get control of our deficit?" Obama said. "... The key is to make sure that we do so in a way that doesn't impede recovery but rather gives people confidence over the medium and the long term." Obama has appointed a bipartisan commission to study the country's fiscal challenges. Its recommendations are due by year-end and are expected to include a mixture of spending cuts and revenue-boosting tax hikes. -- SPA
