Obama backs spending freeze, calls for unity
US President Barack Obama proposed a five-year freeze on some government spending and warned of painful cuts ahead on Tuesday in a centrist speech designed to prove he has fiscal discipline and can work with resurgent Republicans.
Obama sought in his State of Union speech to reassure Americans weary of stubbornly high 9.4 percent unemployment, fearful of rising debt, dismayed at vicious political rhetoric and worried that their country is falling behind economic powers like China and India. (Reuters)
