Obama Says Growth ‘Most Important’ Step for Deficit Reduction

President Barack Obama said that creating growth in the U.S. economy is the most important step he can take to cut the deficit and warned against “shooting down proposals” from his deficit commission until their work is complete.

If the U.S. boosts “economic growth by 1 percentage point over time that could have as much impact as completely eliminating the Bush tax cuts,” Obama said at a news conference today in Seoul, where he met with South Korean President Lee Myung Bak and is attending a summit of the Group of 20. He was referring to tax reductions implemented by former President George W. Bush.