Debt Deal Puts U.S. on Austerity Path as Economy Falters

The federal government looks to be getting out of the business of trying to spur the economy just as the U.S. expansion shows increasing signs of faltering.
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The economy will suffer another blow next year with the expiration of a temporary 2 percent payroll tax cut, an end to extended unemployment benefits and completion of the $830 billion stimulus program that President Barack Obama signed into law more than two years ago. Obama will press Congress to extend a cut in payroll taxes before the end of the year, White House press secretary Jay Carney said yesterday.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-08-02/debt-agreement-puts-u-s-on-path-to-end-stimulus-just-as-economy-falters.html