BARACK OBAMA

President Barack Obama on Monday proposed spending almost $110 billion on Afghanistan, signaling little let-up in the U.S. war drive despite demands for tougher spending controls at home.

The top government auditor for bailouts of U.S. financial firms and automakers on Monday resigned his position as the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program winds down.

President Barack Obama called for the elimination of farm subsidies to the wealthiest farmers in his new budget plan on Monday, arguing that the payments distort the farm sector and even pay some farmers that grow no crops.

Total public U.S. debt held outstanding will continue to pile up beyond its current $14 trillion dollar level over the next 10 years under President Barack Obama's federal budget plan for 2012 unveiled on Monday.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates played down the accuracy of troop figures outlined in a budget request unveiled on Monday, saying the pace of the upcoming drawdown in Afghanistan was still unclear.

President Barack Obama proposed on Monday boosting funds for clean energy research and deployment in his 2012 budget by slashing subsidies for fossil fuels such as oil, gas and coal.

Social Security would not change significantly under President Barack Obama's 2012 budget plan, leaving for later a fiscal reckoning on the massive U.S. pension program for the elderly and disabled.

President Barack Obama revived earlier proposals to raise tens of billions by cutting tax breaks enjoyed by America's biggest companies, ideas that have floundered in Congress for several years.

Big pharmaceutical companies could face increased competition from generic drugmakers under two proposals put forth by the Obama administration on Monday despite earlier savings extracted from drugmakers as part of last year's healthcare law.

The organization, which is agency in the United Nations, is calling for an international support for mobile broadband growth.

Chrysler Group LLC's application for federal loans is moving ahead and will not be affected too much by proposed cuts in the Obama administration's budget, the head of the U.S. Department of Energy said on Monday.

Big pharmaceutical companies could face increased competition from generic drugmakers under two proposals put forth by the Obama administration on Monday.

President Barack Obama's budget proposal for 2012 is not a permanent fix for finances and chances are it will be watered down in Congress, Standard & Poor's chief economist said on Monday.

President Barack Obama unveiled the fiscal year 2012 budget on February 12, 2011. The total budget is $3.73 billion in spending. The budget deficit which accompanies the budget is $1.65 trillion.

Top House Republicans reacted to President Barack Obama's 2012 budget proposal on Monday, saying that it would destroy jobs and that the President missed a unique opportunity to reduce the federal government's budget deficit, which would rise to $1.65 trillion under the plan.

During an interview of NBC’s “Meet the Press” news talk show on Sunday, Speaker of the House John Boehner said that while he believes that President Barack Obama is a U.S. citizen and a Christian, he added that isn’t his responsibility to persuade people who questioned Obama’s origin and religion

The following is a White House Transcript of President Barack Obama's remarks on the unveiling of his proposal for the U.S. 2012 fiscal year federal budget as delivered at Parkville Middle School and Center for Technology in Baltimore, Maryland on February 14, 2011.

U.S. stock index futures edged lower on Monday after Wall Street posted two straight weeks of gains that drove indexes to new multi-year highs and investors worried the market is overextended.

Seeking to balance cuts while maintaining U.S. competitiveness and facing pressure from Republicans seeking even bigger reductions, President Barack Obama said on Monday his proposed 2012 budget was a down payment, on reducing the federal budget deficit, but said more work was needed to address long term challenges.

President Barack Obama proposed a budget on Monday that would cut the U.S. deficit by $1.1 trillion over 10 years, setting the stage for a bitter fight with Republicans who vow even tougher spending controls.

President Barack Obama will push his priorities for the 2012 federal fiscal year budget on Monday. Some of the cuts include programs for low income people and education in a budget that will cut the federal deficit by $1.1 trillion over the next 10 years.