Obama Says Spending Cuts Could Trigger Second Recession

PALO ALTO, Calif. — President Barack Obama said Wednesday he believes the U.S. economy could lapse back into recession if government spending is cut too deeply.

Obama made the comment at a Facebook town hall, which he used to promote his proposals for reducing U.S. deficits. He said Republicans are too narrowly focused on spending cuts.

Obama also said the lack of a serious plan to tackle U.S. deficits could become a big drag on the economy if investors pull back.

"If all we are doing is spending cuts, and we are not discriminating about it, if we are using a machete instead of a scalpel, and we are cutting out things that create jobs, then the deficit could actually get worse because we could slip back into another recession," he said.