"The American people by overwhelming majorities, 80 percent of them, want a balanced budget."

He added that the President said he "wanted a reasonable, responsible budget."

Today's meeting, which took as a given the idea that all sides wanted a balanced budget, was never contentious.

"Everybody who wants a balanced budget ought to see how hard it is to get there before we start talking about getting more."

But Democrats are increasingly eager to say they want a balanced budget, too.

"They ask whether we want a bad budget on time or a good budget late," he said.

The country wants a balanced budget, and you can't do that without cutting back.

The Treasury wants a budget which will assist the process of cutting interest rates and this means keeping the financial markets happy.

The Commission wants a budget extending over several years as this facilitates planning.

We want a budget which hopefully is increased and definitely not reduced.