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Budget arrived on capitol hill and it was not greeted like a valentine. democrats say it cuts too much. republicans say it cuts too little. president obama calls it a budget filled with sacrifices. >> this budget freeze will require some tough choices. it will mean cutting things that i care deeply about. but if we're going to walk the walk when it comes to fiscal discipline, these kind of cuts will be necessary. >> reporter: it cuts college pell grants by $100 million, block grants for cities and counties by $300 million, home heating help for the poor by $2.5 billion. and raises taxes on tho...

Are just as good during the spring or fall. >> reporter: but in his 2012 budget, president obama proposes eliminating pell grants for summer classes as well as charging more for graduate student loans. that would save the budget $89 million over 10 years. bad news for dash. >> if pell grants weren't available to me, i'd probably be taking out student loans right now and be incurring some debt. >> reporter: that cut is one of the tough choices president obama says his budget makes. >> if we're going to walk the walk when it comes to fiscal discipline, these kinds of cuts will be necessary. >> r...

Penny. there are some bigger cuts even to defense. about $19 billion in programs cut, about this number. but then there are new defense programs, so the overall defense budget actually gets bigger. about a stack and a half worth. now, the republicans go further. their budget cuts for this year amounted to $100 billion or that's about this many pennies, but the bottom line is, unless you're willing to talk about cutting entitlements or defense or both really, there's no way you can even think about balancing the budget. jonathan karl, abc news, washington. now to some fascinating medical news...

And here are some stories to watch today on abc news. former president george h.w. bush is among 15 recipients of this year's presidential medal of freedom, the nation's highest civilian award. congressman john lewis and investor warren buffett are also being honored. president obama's budget has arrived on capitol hill. several members of administration will go before congressional committees to defend the nearly $4 trillion plan. and the only giant panda cub born in the u.s. last year will reach a very special milestone today. he'll get a name. in keeping with chinese tradition, the pand...

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