Black Leaders Discuss Job, Budget Cuts with Obama

WASHINGTON  — Leaders of the largest and oldest black civil rights groups are urging President Barack Obama to resist deep cuts to programs that benefit urban communities, where some of the highest unemployment exists.

NAACP president Benjamin Jealous and National Urban League president Marc Morial say they left an Oval Office meeting Thursday feeling assured Obama understands deep budget cuts to safety net programs such as Social Security or Medicaid would be counterproductive.

Morial says he and Jealous shared their ideas on resolving high unemployment in the black community. The leaders say Obama indicated he was willing to consider some of them. They say Obama assured them he will turn back to jobs, job creation and employment discrimination when done with the debt crisis.