Obama signs law lifting debt ceiling (AFP)

US President Barack Obama Wednesday debuts a budget that will be declared dead on arrival by Republicans, irk liberals and stand as his final offer in the next fiscal clash to consume Washington.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Just hours after proposing a budget that would replace automatic spending cuts required by law, President Barack Obama on Wednesday set in motion the next $109 billion of the reductions to military and domestic programs for the year starting on October 1.

President Obama is playing the media like a fiddle (more accurately like the fools they are). Countless mainstream media articles talk about the devastation that is sure to follow if the sequester cuts take place. Obama has even hyped this us with threats of cuts on vaccinations for children.

Goldman’s Alec Phillips warns that the upcoming fight over lifting the debt ceiling could be harder than the 2012 fight, which was brutal and confidence crushing. Phillips writes:

US President Barack Obama signed into law a compromise bill extending a payroll tax cut and jobless benefits through 2012, after a bitter partisan fight over how to pay for it.Congress approved the bill on Friday with broad bipartisan support, ending the contentious battle over a measure aimed at boosting the tepid US recovery -- and giving Obama a key election-year victory.The US president, who is seeking re-election in November, signed the bill in the Oval Office, a White House statement said.