by Mark Silva
President Barack Obama says he is "completely agnostic'' about all options for repairing the federal deficit -- including new taxes on the middle class which he has pledged to avoid.
As he creates a fiscal commission by executive order to examine and recommend solutions for getting the federal government's balance sheet back in balance down the road, the president maintains that "all ideas are on the table.''
The presidential commission on the budget needs to consider all options for reducing the deficit, including tax increases and cuts in spending on entitlement programs such as Social Security and Medicare, the president said in the interview which is online at Bloomberg News today and appearing in BusinessWeek on newsstands Friday.
