“Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew said Tuesday the U.S. government is not facing an “urgent fiscal crisis,” adding to the split between the White House and congressional Republicans over how to proceed with tax and spending policy.
“Mr. Lew, in remarks to the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition, said policy makers had already taken numerous steps to reduce the deficit and said decisions that the White House and Congress now faced should focus more on medium and long-term fiscal challenges.
“He didn’t specify which challenges he was referring to, though he has said in the past that future government health care costs needed to be addressed by policy makers.
“’The good news is there are compromises in the middle to close that gap,’ Mr. Lew said, adding that any deal should also replace mandatory spending cuts that began in March. ‘If you look overall, we’re arguing about composition, not about the amount” of deficit reduction.'”
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