In his weekly radio and Internet address, President Barack Obama named tax breaks for the ultra-rich as a key factor in driving the national deficit. "It would be nice if we could keep every tax break, but we can't afford them," Obama said. He and Republican leaders are at a stalemate on how to reduce the debt. Republicans say getting rid of tax breaks would be dangerous and that they prefer to slash government programs. "The president and Democrats in Congress must recognize that their game plan is not working," Indiana Sen. Dan Coats said in the weekly Republican rebuttal. Meanwhile, the Obama administration has warned that the federal government could default on its debt—potentially triggering chaos in the banking system—if Congress doesn't raise the debt limit soon.
