US budget deficit hits record high........

The US government registered a record budget deficit in February, the 17th consecutive month of running in the red, the Treasury said Wednesday. The February budget shortfall was 220.909 billion dollars, a 14 percent rise from a year ago and the biggest monthly gap on record. The reading, however, was slightly better than the consensus analyst forecast of a deficit of 222 billion dollars. The deepening budget gap was led by a 17 percent jump in government spending, which hit 328.429 billion dollars, a record for the month of February. The record monthly number came after two consecutive months of shrinking gaps that had left the January gap at 42.6 billion dollars...Link

House to vote on pullout from Afghanistan.

(Reuters) - In a test of congressional support for President Barack Obama's new Afghanistan strategy, lawmakers are set to vote on Wednesday on a resolution that would direct him to pull U.S. forces out of the war. The resolution by liberal Democratic Representative Dennis Kucinich is not expected to pass. But it could be an important indicator of how Obama's Democrats feel about the war, particularly ahead of November congressional elections in which Republicans are expected to make gains. It is the first legislative challenge by the Democratic majority Congress to U.S. involvement in the conflict since Obama ordered 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan and an offensive began last month to retake the Taliban stronghold of Marjah in Helmand province...Link