President Obama will hold a news conference on Wednesday morning at 11:30am EDT, giving reporters the chance to ask about talks on the budget and debt limit, the NATO mission against Libya, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and more.

This is the first solo news conference for Mr. Obama since March, when he met reporters in the aftermath of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan.

The news conference will give the President the chance to make his case about the political fight over the budget and debt limit, as the White House this week all but demanded that Republicans accept some tax increases in any deal.

"So I’ve put forward a plan that says, yes, we can cut every program that’s not working and every little bit of waste that we can find across the board, whether it’s in the Defense Department or it’s in social service programs that don’t work," Mr. Obama said last week.

"We can’t waste money, because times are tight."

Republicans though argue now is not the time to raise taxes either, and that this would be the perfect opportunity to cut a big chunk out of the government, something that many Democrats have resisted.

This news conference comes with just under five weeks until an August 2 deadline for action on a plan to raise the nation's debt limit.

After meeting with reporters, the President will sit down with Senate Democrats to talk about the budget - but with no Republicans being called in for any negotiations - that meeting would seem to be more internal public relations move than anything else.

Mr. Obama will be out of town part of Thursday, as he goes to Philadelphia to raise money, making me think that today's news conference could well mark the unofficial start to a long July 4th weekend in Washington, D.C.

Check back after the news conference for more coverage.