Obama-GOP overlap? Public works, corporate taxes, defense

WASHINGTON (AP) - There are reasons President Barack Obama and his aides will argue that his new budget can be the start of a negotiation with the Republican controlled Congress. For one, some of his proposals are thematically in the same sphere as those of the GOP. For another, he can block their initiatives. Wielding a hockey stick given to him by the National Hockey League champions, the Los Angeles Kings, Obama on Monday bit his lower lip and swung. "This is even better than a veto pen," he declared just hours after sending his budget to Congress. "You don't want to mess with somebody who's got one of these."