Obama budget chief: Economy almost bottomed out

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Published: MAY 18, 2009 00:24
The worst seems to be over, President Barack Obama's budget director said Sunday. But he also warned against taking signs of economic recovery as a reason to celebrate or delay changes in health care policy. Peter Orszag said the US economy appears to have bottomed out, even as the White House prepared to revise its budget projections to reflect higher-than-expected unemployment. He said an improving economy and changes to how the United States provides health care would help narrow federal deficits. "I think what happened is the free-fall in the economy seems to have stopped and we're - I guess the analogy (is) there are some glimmers of sun shining through the trees, but we're not out of the woods yet," said Orszag, the director of the White House Office of Management and Budget. "We do have more work ahead." Work, Orszag said on CNN's "State of the Union," that would include passing this year Obama's health care plans despite the economic crisis.