WASHINGTON, Feb 1 (Reuters) - President Barack Obama warned on Monday the United States must tackle its mountain of debt to ensure sustainable economic growth in the long term and placed the blame for the high deficit, again, on his predecessor.
In introductory remarks to the White House's fiscal 2011 budget, Obama said the country was $12 trillion deeper in debt compared to the beginning of the decade largely because of the recession and tax cuts for the wealthy ushered in by former President George W. Bush.
"In the long term, we cannot have sustainable and durable economic growth without getting our fiscal house in order," Obama wrote.
Obama's budget for the fiscal year to Sept. 30, 2011, which the U.S. Congress can change, forecasts a deficit of $1.56 trillion in 2010, equal to 10.6 percent of the economy measured by gross domestic product (GDP).
(Reporting by Jeff Mason, editing by Vicki Allen)