Reply #3: US faces 'difficult' tax choices: Bernanke

[ozymandius]

WASHINGTON (AFP) – Facing unsustainable budget deficits, the United States will have to make difficult choices between higher taxes and social spending, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said.

Wading into a fiercely contested political debate, Bernanke said trimming the deficit was made more urgent by the rapidly aging US population. ...

Bernanke said quick steps to balance the books would hurt the fragile recovery, but that a credible longer-term plan could spark economic growth today. ....

Obama has vowed to reduce the deficit, beginning the following year, and has lauded his landmark health care law as a major step forward.

The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has estimated the legislation could cut 130 billion dollars from the bloated US deficit through 2019 and 1.2 trillion in the second 10 years.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100408/ts_alt_afp/useconomybankdeficit