Obama's deficit reduction speech: First reactions

The president announces plans to cut $4 trillion from the deficit over the next 12 years, with a combination of spending cuts and tax increases. Is this winning the future?

Obama wants to let the Bush tax cuts expire for the wealthiest Americans, and reduce health care waste, to help cut the projected deficit by $4 trillion over the next 12 years.
(Image credit: Getty)

On Wednesday afternoon, the president announced a proposal to reduce the projected U.S. deficit by $4 trillion over the next 12 years, with a combination of spending cuts and targeted tax increases. (Watch an excerpt here.) Obama's plan would slash $750 billion in discretionary spending, save $500 billion by reducing health care waste, and raise revenue by letting the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans expire. The president also said that if budget targets weren't met by 2014, a "debt fail-safe" would kick in, forcing even greater spending cuts. Obama labeled the Republican plan proposed by Rep. Paul Ryan a "vision of our future that's deeply pessimistic." In contrast, he said, his plan would enable Americans to "live within our means while still investing in our future." Here, some initial reactions to the president's speech:

It was a passionate defense of liberal values: Obama's speech was an "unapologetic defense of a progressive vision of government," says Steve Benen at Washington Monthly, and included a welcome, "full-throated condemnation" of Ryan's irresponsible plan. Some liberals worry that Obama is afraid to defend "the institutions of the modern welfare state," like Medicare and Medicaid, which Ryan's proposal would radically change. But Obama reminded Americans that the modern welfare state is "worthy of a spirited defense." It was exactly what we needed to hear.

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