Today, the Center for American Progress released the following statement in reaction to President Barack Obama’s deficit reduction plan announced this morning:
“President Obama’s deficit reduction plan offers a balanced approach that stands in stark contrast to the extreme vision embodied in the budget resolution passed this spring by Republicans in the House of Representatives. The president’s plan builds another $3 trillion in deficit reduction on top of the $1 trillion in spending cuts already enacted as part of the Budget Control Act. In the president’s plan, the responsibility for achieving the several additional trillion dollars of deficit reduction will be broadly shared. This will lessen the burden that any one segment of society—seniors, children, students, low-income families, the middle-class, the wealthy—will have to bear on its own. The president has made clear his commitment to this principle by promising a veto to any bill that cuts Medicare benefits without asking some sacrifice from the wealthy. In addition, the president’s proposal pays for his much needed job creation plan that was offered earlier this month. These two features, balance and job creation, are what set the president’s plan apart from the alternative passed by the Republican-controlled House, which does nothing for job creation, calls for a huge tax cut for the wealthy, is paid for by asking everyone else to pay more, and slashes a broad swath of important public expenditures including abolishing Medicare as we know it.”
Read a CAP analysis examining the differences between the president’s plan announced today and the House Republican plan enacted earlier this year.
To speak with CAP’s economic policy experts, please contact Katie Peters at [email protected] or 202.478.7285.
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