Deficit plan would spread health program cuts. A7
The plan and strong rhetoric rekindle the president’s battle with congressional Republicans. Responding to GOP accusations that his plan would divide Americans, Obama said: “It’s not class warfare. It’s math.
“If we’re not willing to ask those who’ve done extraordinarily well to help America close the deficit, the math says everybody else has to do a whole lot more,’’ he said.
The proposal marked a shift for Obama, who had appeared to be more willing to meet Republican demands for cuts in Social Security or Medicare when the nation’s ability to borrow money was imperiled this summer. Such an accommodating stance angered some of his most ardent supporters.
In those talks with House Speaker John A. Boehner, the president had agreed to increase the eligibility age for Medicare from 65 to 67 and change calculations that would limit Social Security cost-of-living increases. Those concessions were part of a grand bargain for $4 trillion in deficit cuts the president unsuccessfully tried to strike with House Republicans.
It appears that such a bargain is off, at least for now - and if cuts in entitlement programs are to be made, they must come with higher taxes on those most able to pay.
Boehner said the president’s new plan did not constitute “a serious contribution’’ to tackling the nation’s debt and instead spotlighted the barriers to any compromise.
Liberal groups heartily endorsed the plan. “Americans need jobs, not cuts, paid for by making millionaires and corporations pay their fair share,’’ said Daniel Mintz, campaign director at MoveOn.org.’’
The president submitted his plan yesterday to a congressional committee working to identify $1.5 trillion in deficit cuts mandated by last month’s debt-ceiling agreement, which also called for about $900 million in more immediate cuts.
Obama’s plan details spending cuts and revenue increases over the next decade to fulfill the debt panel’s obligation while also covering the $447 billion jobs bill he introduced last week.
