教育经费削减

The president says all the programs being eliminated or reduced are wasteful or unnecessary.

"We can no longer afford to spend as if deficits do not matter and waste is not our problem," said President Obama. "We can no longer afford to leave the hard choices for the next budget, the next administration, or the next generation."

First round of cuts is modestThe first round of cuts is modest, $17 billion out of the president's $3.55-trillion budget proposal for 2010. But Mr. Obama makes clear they are an important start.

"At this moment, at this difficult time for our nation, we cannot accept business as usual," said Mr. Obama. "We cannot accept anything less than a government ready to meet the challenges of our time."

Some unnecessary defense programs will be cut

The list of cuts being sent to Congress for approval includes a long-range radio navigation system rendered obsolete by

satellite technology, and an early education program that has yielded poor results. About half the cuts will come in

unnecessary defense programs, including weapons systems not needed for 21st century warfare.

The president says all these cuts will help bring the deficit down, and will free up money to fund budget priorities.

Republicans: budget cuts will have little impact

But Republicans in Congress say they will have little if any impact. Judd Gregg is the top Republican on the Senate Budget Committee.

"It is as if this was the Gobi Desert or the Sahara Desert, and you came along and took a few pieces of sand off the desert," said Senator Gregg.

Gregg says the cuts are not nearly enough to offset the huge cost of new initiatives requested by the president.

"While you are taking these few dollars out, which I congratulate the president for trying to do, they are adding back in

massive amounts of spending," he said.

Congress has already approved the broad outlines of the president's budget proposal for 2010. But the hard work lies ahead as lawmakers negotiate details - agency by agency, and program by program - before the government's new fiscal year begins October 1.

奥巴马说，所有被取消或减少的项目都是浪费的或者不必要的。

“我们不能好像赤字没有关系，或者浪费不是我们的问题那样来支出了。”奥巴马说，“我们不能再把如此困难的选择留到下一次预算，下一届政府或者下一代。”

首轮削减是适度的首轮削减是适度的，从总统为2010年3.55兆美元的预算提案中减少170亿美元。但是奥巴马明确表示，这是一个非常重要的开始。

“此刻，在我们国家所面临的困难时期，我们不能像平常一样接受商业活动，我们不能接受一个不能面临时代挑战的政府。”奥巴马说。

一些不必要的防御计划将会被削减

发往国会等待通过的削减清单包括一个由于卫星技术的发展已经废弃的远程电台导航系统，一个效果不明显的早期教育项目。大约一半的削减项目死不必要的国防项目，包括21世纪的战争不再需要的武器。

总统表示，所有这些削减都会帮助赤字降低，将会节约出资金进行更加重要的项目。

共和党：预算削减不会有太大影响

但是国会共和党说，这样做的影响很小。格雷格是参议院预算委员会的共和党高级领导人。

“就好象是戈壁或者撒哈拉沙漠，你走在沙漠上，从沙漠里取走一些沙子一样。”格雷格说。

格雷格说，削减预算远远不足以弥补总统提出的创新项目的巨大成本。

“你从这些项目上削减了一点点资金，总统却要花费非常巨大的资金来开发新的项目。”他说。

国会已经通过了总统提出的2010年财政预算大纲。但是，困难还在前面——在10月1日新的财政年度开始前，立法者将逐一部门，逐一项目地对细节进行商讨。