As previously promised, we are returning to long-term budget matters today. After Republicans took the initiative on government spending, President Obama came through with a strongly political response which should allow him to reframe the debate. The President's speech can be viewed here:
The sides are predictably not yet on the same page regarding where cuts will come from. Additionally, fights are sure to occur over the hot buttons of military spending and entitlement programs as well as whether tax increases will be a part of the package (contrary to Representative Boehner's recent comments, it seems almost a certainty that some increases will have to be included to help make up the current gap). However, it is encouraging that both sides are finally in agreement that cuts needs to be made at all.
In addition to using tools such as cutting programs and raising taxes to tackle the current budget disaster, the Obama plan also contains an interesting 'straightjacket' feature representing an attempt to avoid such daunting deficits in the future. For an interactive White House page on what the budget looks like, visit here.
Unfortunately for the President, his second in command is stealing some of his desired headline space today; apparently Vice President Biden was seemingly not as impressed with Obama's proposals as some analysts were:
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