Obama Again Willing to Compromise on Deficit Reduction
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Alex Wong/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) — Just because he failed to get the GOP-controlled House to go along with his deficit reduction plan doesn’t mean that President Obama isn’t willing to give it another try if he wins reelection.
Speaking to CBS’ Face the Nation Sunday, the president said, “You can’t reduce the deficit unless you take a balanced approach that says, ‘We’ve gotta make government leaner and more efficient.”
The plan he proposed would cut $2.50 in spending allowances for every dollar of increased tax revenue. Obama also acknowledged that he might be willing to take a knife to cherished Democratic “programs that are worthy, but we just can’t afford right now.”
Even though the president was reminded that Republicans rejected his proposal in 2011 and would be likely to do the same if he wins in November but they gain even more power in Congress, Obama indicated that he would stick to his guns and still push for tax increases for the wealthy in order to “close the deficit, stabilize the economy, keep taxes on middle class families low, [and] provide the certainty that I think all of us would be looking for.”
Compromising with the GOP would also involve reforming Medicare and Medicaid programs although the president maintained “the way to do that is to keep health care costs low; it’s not to ‘voucherize’ programs so that suddenly seniors are the ones who are finding their expenses much higher.”
Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio