WASHINGTON (AP) — House Speaker John Boehner wants President Barack Obama to support Republican efforts to make deep cuts in this year's budget as a down payment in the effort to attack soaring deficits.
The Ohio Republican sent a letter Sunday to Obama saying the path to prosperity for the country means "liberating our economy from the shackles of out-of-control government spending and big government."
Accompanying Boehner's letter was a statement endorsed by 150 economists that called for immediate action to reduce spending.
House Republicans are pushing $61 billion in spending cuts through September.
Obama budget director Jacob Lew refused to say on CNN's "State of the Union" whether the administration would support that.
Obama will send his spending plan for 2012 to Congress on Monday. The new budget year begins Oct. 1