Tales from the Trail

Here’s something that Republicans might want to hear: the White House is promising that its budget will include serious deficit control.

“The budget will show a very serious path of deficit reduction,” White House Office of Management and Budget Director Jack Lew said in an interview with Reuters’ White House correspondents Alister Bull and Jeff Mason.

While the budget will make “tough choices and tough cuts,” Lew said, “there will also be the question of how far do you want to go in some of these areas and what are the consequences of going beyond a certain line.”

That line and where it is drawn will be scrutinized when Obama releases his budget proposal on Feb. 14 (yes, Valentine’s Day).

Speaking of lines, the United States appears to be taking a tougher one with its ally of 30 years, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. While not calling for Mubarak’s immediate departure, the White House said transition must start right away. “Now means now,” White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said.

After Spain’s victory in the World Cup, LeBron James’ move to the Miami Heat and his own golf outing on Sunday, U.S. President Barack Obama clearly has sports on the brain.

As he introduced Jacob Lew as his nominee to lead the White House Office of Management and Budget, Obama sprinkled his remarks with allusions to sports.

“If there was a Hall of Fame for budget directors, then Jack Lew surely would have earned a place for his service in that role under President Clinton, when he helped balance the federal budget after years of deficits,” Obama said.