WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama is predicting he'll reach agreement with lawmakers to reduce the deficit and overhaul immigration law within the first year of a second term if he's re-elected.
The president made the promises in an interview with The Des Moines Register. The interview originally was off the record, but Obama's campaign agreed to release a transcript under pressure from the newspaper.
Obama says he'll get a so-called "grand bargain" on the deficit within the first six months but says it "will probably be messy."
On immigration, Obama said he'd be blunt since the interview was off the record. He said if he wins a second term "a big reason" will be because Republicans have, quote, "so alienated the fastest-growing demographic group in the country, the Latino community."
