Obama budget predicts $1.3T deficit for 2012

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama’s new budget predicts a $1.3 trillion deficit for the ongoing fiscal year but that would drop to $575 billion in 2018 if the president gets his wish to raise taxes and if policymakers can live within tight restraints on the Pentagon and other Cabinet agency budgets, the White House said Friday.

After four consecutive years of trillion dollar-plus deficits, next year’s budget shortfall would drop to $901 billion under the administration’s tax and spending policies.

In his budget submission on Monday, the president will also call for a “Buffett Rule” – that would guarantee that households making more than $1 million a year pay at least 30 percent of their income in taxes. Billionaire financier Warren Buffett has made headlines proposing the idea, saying that it’s unfair for him to pay a lower tax rate than his secretary.

U.S. says signs growing Syrian elite wants out

WASHINGTON – The Obama administration says it is seeing growing signs that the Syrian elite, including people close to President Bashar Assad, are increasingly worried and beginning to prepare exit plans.

Two U.S. officials said Friday that one Assad family member has moved large amounts of money out of the country to avoid U.S. and other sanctions on the country and provide a nest egg for a life in exile. Similarly, a senior member of Assad’s national security circle has very recently left the country and appears to have settled abroad, they said.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss classified intelligence. They would not identify either the family member or the official or give specifics about the money transfer or the apparent defection. But the examples they cited suggest a new level of planning and worry among the senior regime.

Associated Press