1.   The budget deficit target for the year was raised to Can.

2.   Also among their concerns is swelling government debt, with many expecting the government to report on Friday that it has already exceeded its deficit target for the year.

3.   Because January is a major tax collecting month, it is key in determining whether the government will meet its deficit target.

4.   But he too was forced into a quick reversal by the need to meet deficit targets for the single currency.

5.   But meeting the deficit targets for the single currency requires cutting popular government-paid benefits like early retirement, social security and free health care.

6.   But the deficit target cannot be met without unpopular cuts, unpopular tax hikes or both.

7.   But with an arbitrary deficit target, Congress will be required to make mindless cuts in spending or raise taxes, thereby smothering an already weak economy.

8.   Commission forecasts show that both France and Germany can still reach the deficit target provided that public spending plans proposed by both governments are successfully implemented.

9.   Even meeting that deficit target will be a tall order, Lamassoure suggested.

10.   France still misses the public deficit target.