The Obama administration is preparing to unveil its 2012 budget request next week. Days ahead of the request, Republicans have unveiled their spending plan calling for $74 billion in cuts to Obama’s request from last year. The cuts include a 10 percent reduction to a food program for pregnant women and their children, the firing of 4,500 police officers, slashing funding the federal high-speed rail initiative, and gutting the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency by 17 percent. Speaking in Washington, D.C., Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said the administration is focused on spurring business growth.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner: “The job of government is to create the conditions for businesses to expand and to thrive. And what we need to do in Washington is make sure we’re creating a better environment for businesses to act with a little more confidence about the future.”