President Obama listens to a question at the Fiscal Responsibility Summit at the White House in Washington

U.S. President Barack Obama takes a question at the Fiscal Responsibility Summit at the White House in Washington February 23, 2009. President Obama pledged on Monday to cut the ballooning U.S. budget deficit by half in the next four years and said the country would face another economic crisis if it did not address its debt problems soon. Obama, whose month-old administration has pushed through a $787 billion economic stimulus package to try to jolt the country out of recession, said the need for spending now did not mean U.S. budget problems could be put off. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque (UNITED STATES)