Reactions to President Obama's April 13, 2011 Speech on Fiscal Responsibility


MITT ROMNEY RESPONSE TO PRESIDENT OBAMA SPEECH

LEXINGTON, MA – In response to President Obama’s remarks today, Governor Mitt Romney released the following statement:

“President Obama’s proposals are too little, too late.  Instead of supporting spending cuts that lead to real deficit reduction and true reform of Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security, the President dug deep into his liberal playbook for ‘solutions’ highlighted by higher taxes.  With over 20 million people who are unemployed or who have stopped looking for work, the last thing we should be doing is raising taxes on job-creators, entrepreneurs, and small business owners across America.”


Governor Pawlenty Statement on Budget Vote

"Today's speech was nothing more than window dressing.  President Obama's lack of seriousness on deficit reduction is crystal clear when you look at the budget deal he insisted on to avoid a government shutdown. The more we learn about the budget deal the worse it looks.  When you consider that the federal deficit in February alone was over $222 billion, to have actual cuts less than the $38 billion originally advertised is just not serious.  The fact that billions of dollars advertised as cuts were not scheduled to be spent in any case makes this budget wholly unacceptable. It's no surprise that President Obama and Senator Reid forced this budget, but it should be rejected. America deserves better."
Gingrich: Obama Plan Will Kill Jobs, Increase Debt

Georgia - Newt Gingrich issued the following statement reacting to the president’s speech today:
 
President Obama's speech today shows he has learned nothing about how to win the future.  He continues to operate with a left wing worldview that will hurt seniors, kill jobs, raise gas prices, and increase our crushing debt.
 
America needs an honest conversation about saving Medicaid and Medicare by providing citizens with more choices, better care, and more control at lower costs; not emotional demagoguery designed to create a climate of fear and inaction. 
 
America needs tax cuts not tax increases to create jobs.  Creating jobs and getting back to 4% unemployment is the most important step to a balanced budget.  The president’s proposal to raise taxes will kill jobs and increase the deficit by putting more people on unemployment, food stamps and welfare.
 
America needs an American Energy Plan that makes full use of all our resources here at home – oil, natural gas, wind, clean coal, nuclear, biofuels, and more. The president is ideologically wedded to a limited view of America’s energy potential that will continue to raise gas prices and further increase our reliance on foreign sources of energy. 
 
In his speech, the president lauded the effort of Republicans and Democrats to work together to balance the budget in the 1990s.  Yet the solutions he proposed today are precisely the opposite of what we did. 
 
When I was Speaker, we passed the first tax cuts in sixteen years to encourage the private sector to create jobs, including what Art Laffer called the largest capital gains cut in history.  This led to a drop in unemployment from 5.6% to below 4%. 
 
We successfully reformed welfare to lift the poor out of poverty in much the same way Paul Ryan proposes to save Medicaid. 
 
We increased defense and intelligence spending to defend freedom. 
 
Through those pro-growth measures we balanced the budget and paid off over $405 billion in debt. 
 
To win the future today, I have proposed six steps for the United States to rebuild the economy and rescue the next generation from a dangerous and potentially crushing national debt.
 
1.     Promote stability in the economy by permanently extending the current tax relief. Job creation moved from stagnant to improving in the two months after Congress extended tax relief for two years.
 
2.     Guarantee the United States will continue to be the center of economic activity by making it the most desirable location for new business investment. The United States should match the Chinese capital gains tax rate of zero; dramatically reduce the corporate income tax (the highest in the world) to 12.5%; allow for 100% expensing of new equipment  to spur innovation and American manufacturing; and permanently end the death tax.
  
3.     Repeal Sarbanes-Oxley. Remove burdensome financial regulation that is holding companies back from taking risks and making new investments.
 
4.     Implement an American energy policy that creates jobs in the United States versus the Obama plan which borrows money from China to give to Brazil to drill for oil and then sell it to Americans.
 
5.     Enforce the fiscal responsibility Americans deserve, control spending, and implement money saving reforms and replace destructive policies and agencies with new approaches.
 
6.     Repeal and replace Obamacare.

HERMAN CAIN RESPONDS TO OBAMA BUDGET
Business Leader: President Knows More About Politicking Than Economics

(Stockbridge, GA)- Potential Republican presidential candidate and longtime corporate executive Herman Cain responded to President Obama's speech at 1:45 p.m. Wednesday, April 13, 2011 regarding his budget proposal, saying:

President Obama's address proved yet again that he values ideology over basic economics and leadership.

His budget employs his typical class warfare tactics, insisting on taxing America's job creators into oblivion for what he deems "fairness." In doing so, he makes clear his willingness to further cripple our economy in exchange for pushing his wealth redistribution agenda and abandonment of the free enterprise system.

President Obama also took the opportunity to blame everyone but his own administration for this economic disaster, shifting blame to the Bush administration, Congressional Republicans and America's highest earners, neglecting his own administration's reckless spending. 

Instead of using this speech as an opportunity to preview a budget that could significantly pay down our mounting debt through meaningful spending cuts and entitlement reforms, he again insisted on saddling America's job creators with an even heavier tax burden to pay down the debt. Meanwhile, Congressman Ryan proposed his own budget that reduces the national debt by $6 trillion without raising taxes on a single American family or business.

Most importantly, actions speak louder than words. President Obama claims that his budget proposal would cut $4 trillion in just 12 years. Can we really trust a man who vowed time and time again that his administration would cut the budget deficit in half, but instead, brought our budget deficits to record levels in just half a term in the White House?

Indeed, since President Obama just filed his re-election candidacy papers, Americans today got their first televised campaign speech for 2012: all talk, no leadership.

Speaker Boehner Statement on President Obama’s Speech on Deficits

Washington (Apr 13) House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) released the following statement in response to the President’s speech today at The George Washington University.

“Unsustainable debt and deficits threaten the prosperity of our children and the health and retirement security of our seniors. Republicans, led by Chairman Ryan, have set the bar with a jobs budget that puts us on a path to paying down the debt and preserves Medicare and Medicaid for the future. This afternoon, I didn’t hear a plan to match it from the President.

“He is asking Congress to raise the debt limit to continue paying Washington’s bills. The American people will not stand for that unless it is accompanied by serious action to reduce our deficit. More promises, hollow targets, and Washington commissions simply won’t get the job done.

“To reduce the economic uncertainty hanging over American job creators we must demonstrate that we’re willing to take action. And any plan that starts with job-destroying tax hikes is a non-starter. We need to grow our economy – not our government – by creating a better environment for private sector job growth. That’s why Republicans are fighting for meaningful spending cuts and fighting against any tax increases on American small businesses.”


President’s Call for Tax Hikes ‘Counterproductive,’ McConnell Says

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell made the following statement Wednesday regarding the President’s speech on our nation’s unsustainable debt:

“After two years of adding trillions to the debt and ignoring our nation's looming fiscal nightmare, the President dedicated a significant portion of his speech today looking elsewhere for a culprit. But while he may want to blame others for the problems that reckless borrowing and spending have caused, the American people are well past the point of believing that Washington will be able to make good on all its promises and that entitlement programs will be strong and solvent if Democrats are allowed to raise taxes.

“Americans know that we face a fiscal crisis not because we tax too little, but because Washington spends too much. They do not support the reckless Washington spending of the past two years that has left us with record deficits and debt, and they will not support raising taxes to preserve an unsustainable status quo. A bipartisan majority of lawmakers rejected the kind of tax hike on small business that President Obama endorsed today, and it was counterproductive of him to revive it. Americans want policies that will create the right climate for job creation -- and that means cutting Washington spending, not squeezing family budgets even more than they already are. Both parties have agreed to make a down payment on that effort with a bill that will cut billions in spending this year, and Congressman Paul Ryan has followed that up with a serious proposal to cut trillions more.”


DNC Interim Chair Donna Brazile’s Statement Supporting the President’s Plan to Achieve Fiscal Responsibility

Washington, DC – Today, President Obama unveiled his plan to reduce the deficit while still investing in the things we need to support strong job growth and win the future.  Following the President’s speech unveiling his plan, DNC Interim Chair Donna Brazile released the following statement:
 
“President Obama has made it very clear that when it comes to our nation’s future he has two goals – putting America back on sound fiscal footing and guaranteeing that as we do so we continue to support strong economic growth and increased job creation.  He will not sacrifice one for the other, because he knows both are critically important. 
 
“That’s why, in contrast to the Republicans’ extreme plans for slashing spending on critical investments in America’s future while reducing taxes on the wealthiest Americans, President Obama has put forth a plan that will demand shared sacrifices from everyone in order to secure a better future for us all.  Because the President understands a plan that places all the burdens on seniors, the sick, the poor and the middle class while providing for trillions in tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans isn’t courageous and isn’t bold – it’s downright unfair.  As the President said, no plan that purports to deal with our deficits and debt that gives a trillion dollars away to the wealthiest Americans in tax breaks while ending Medicare for seniors can be considered the least bit serious – and frankly – it is not. In short, the same old Republican playbook isn’t going to cut it anymore – they’ve been champions of tax cuts for the wealthy as the solution to all America’s problems for decades now, even as our deficit has exploded and our economy has suffered the worst crisis since the Great Depression – and now we’ve got to try something different.
 
“The details of President Obama’s comprehensive plan are many – it addresses issues from spending cuts to tax reform to Medicare and Medicaid and more – but the vision behind his plan is straightforward.  Quite simply, President Obama’s plan envisions an America in which we all come together in a responsible way to guarantee jobs for all those who want to work, support for all those who have fallen into tough times, security for our families, and opportunities for our children.  That’s a vision we should all be able to support.”

RNC Chairman Priebus Statement On Barack Obama’s Budget Do-Over

WASHINGTON – Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairman Reince Priebus released the following statement today in response to Barack Obama’s budget do-over:

“It’s rare for a president to attempt a budget do-over but after failing to make any of the tough decisions on his first budget, the president needs a mulligan. It’s become clear the White House is losing the spending argument to Republicans in Congress and now the President is on defense with another Hail Mary speech. Unfortunately, this president’s answer for every problem is more tax hikes while ignoring Washington’s addiction to spending. The simple truth is our current rate of spending is unsustainable and inhibits job growth.  Republicans have already begun this adult conversation with the American people – it’s time for the President to join.”


PRESS RELEASE from NRCC
New Deficit Plan?  What New Deficit Plan?
After a Speech Big on Rhetoric and Absent of Details, Americans Must Rely on Obama’s Record to See if He’s Serious About Cutting Spending
 
Speaking Wednesday in a highly touted speech on deficit reduction, President Obama managed to continue to profess his seriousness about reducing the deficit:
 
“This debate over budgets and deficits is about more than just numbers on a page, more than just cutting and spending. It's about the kind of future we want. It's about the kind of country we believe in. And that's what I want to talk about today.” (“Obama’s Speech on Reducing the Budget,” The New York Times, 4/13/2011)
 
Much like Obama’s vague earlier pronouncements on deficit reduction, his latest speech does the same, pledging to “borrow” from the Bowles-Simpson recommendations without any specifics as to what he would borrow:
 
“Today, I'm proposing a more balanced approach to achieve $4 trillion in deficit reduction over twelve years. It's an approach that borrows from the recommendations of the bipartisan Fiscal Commission I appointed last year, and builds on the roughly $1 trillion in deficit reduction I already proposed in my 2012 budget.” (“Obama’s Speech on Reducing the Budget,” The New York Times, 4/13/2011)
 
Given this lack of detail, the president is effectively doubling-down on his support for the same old tired ideas in his budget that guts Medicare by cutting benefits, according to the Obama-appointed trustees of Medicare:
 
MEDICARE PART A BANKRUPT BY 2029: “The HI [Hospital Insurance Trust] fund still fails the test of short-range financial adequacy, as projected annual assets drop below projected annual expenditures…by 2012. The fund also continues to fail the long range test of close actuarial balance.” (Timothy F. Geithner, Hilda L. Solis, Kathleen Sebelius, and Michael J. Astrue, “A Summary of the 2010 Annual Social Security and Medicare Trust Fund Reports,” Social Security Online, Accessed 3/15/2011)
 
23 PERCENT PAYROLL TAX HIKE AND STEEP CUTS TO BENEFITS: “Over 75 years, HI’s [the Hospital Insurance Trust Fund’s] estimated actuarial imbalance is 23 percent as large as payroll taxes, and 16 percent as large as program outlays.” (Timothy F. Geithner, Hilda L. Solis, Kathleen Sebelius, and Michael J. Astrue, “A Summary of the 2010 Annual Social Security and Medicare Trust Fund Reports,” Social Security Online, Accessed 3/15/2011)
 
AMERICAN ACADEMY OF ACTUARIES: 15 PERCENT CUT IN BENEFITS. “The projected HI deficit over the next 75 years is 0.66 percent of taxable payroll, down from last year’s estimate of 3.88 percent. Eliminating this deficit would require an immediate 23 percent increase in payroll taxes or an immediate 15 percent reduction in benefits—or some combination of the two. Delaying action would require more drastic tax increases or benefit reductions in the future.” (“Issue Brief: Medicare’s Financial Condition: Beyond Actuarial Balance,” American Academy of Actuaries, Nov. 2010)
 
Meanwhile, Obama reiterated his belief that tax increases should feature prominently in a debt reduction package. Coupled with his vague support for the fiscal commission recommendations, can Americans then assume he supports hiking taxes on gasoline, Social Security, higher Medicaid co-pays and the elimination of middle class tax deductions?:

“INCREASE THE SOCIAL SECURITY CONTRIBUTION CEILING.” (Megan Carpentier, “Fiscal Commission Co-Chairs Simpson and Bowles Release Eye-Popping Recommendations,” Talking Points Memo DC, 11/10/2010)
 
“RAISING THE FEDERAL GAS TAX BY 15 CENTS PER GALLON.” (Megan Carpentier, “Fiscal Commission Co-Chairs Simpson and Bowles Release Eye-Popping Recommendations,” Talking Points Memo DC, 11/10/2010)
 
“INCREASE MEDICAID CO-PAYS.” (Megan Carpentier, “Fiscal Commission Co-Chairs Simpson and Bowles Release Eye-Popping Recommendations,” Talking Points Memo DC, 11/10/2010)
 
ELIMINATING TAX DEDUCTIONS: “[Bowles-Simpson] lays out options for overhauling the tax code that include limiting or eliminating the mortgage interest deduction, the child tax credit and the earned income tax credit.” (Jackie Calmes, “Panel Seeks Social Security Cuts and Higher Taxes,” The New York Times, 11/10/2010)
 
SOCIAL SECURITY BENEFIT CUTS: “The plan calls for… benefit cuts and an increased retirement age for Social Security.” (Jackie Calmes, “Panel Seeks Social Security Cuts and Higher Taxes,” The New York Times, 11/10/2010)
 
We don’t know because Obama refused to give specifics. No wonder independent commentators are already dismissing the seriousness of Obama’s latest bid:
 
NBC’S CHUCK TODD: “I wouldn't say there's a big surprise. … There are some that will say the president laid out a vision and called for yet another commission. But in this case it is a commission of people that actually have to vote on these proposals. It's my understanding it's going to be a bipartisan group of members of the congress led by Vice President Biden to come up with this plan. I guess the fact that we're going on yet another commission -- like you shake your head going, how many commissions is this going to take.” (Remarks from NBC’s Chuck Todd, MSNBC’s News Nation, 4/13/2011)

Obama Rejects Radical Republican Fiscal Agenda

AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka issued the following statement today on President Obama’s speech on fiscal policy and the federal budget.

Today, President Obama gave a promise to America’s working people that he wouldn’t follow the path of the radical Republican fiscal agenda that leads to lost jobs and a national decline of standards. That commitment is essential at this crucial moment for children, students, seniors and everyone who hopes for a secure economic future.

The President also made clear that he understands why Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid are so important to working people. The labor movement is equally clear that we oppose cuts to any of these critical programs – no matter who proposes them.

Above all, let us refocus our national energy and attention on job creation – because successful job creation is the key to making long-term deficit reduction both easier and more politically achievable.

The Republican budget proposal, by contrast, is simply a shameful wealth transfer from working people to corporate CEOs. It does not make a significant dent in the deficit. It is a fraud on the American people.  Republican leaders in Congress have shown they want a massive cut in tax rates for the wealthy and for Wall Street, and they want the middle class and the poor to pay for it in various ways, including higher health care costs, hidden tax increases and cuts in essential programs. At a time of record unemployment, each cut to our nation’s budget threatens American jobs and the Republicans’ irresponsible cuts would eliminate hundreds of thousands of them.

Here’s the truth:  We cannot have an honest conversation about the deficit until we return fairness to our tax system, and that includes addressing our medium and long term fiscal problems created by the $100 billion-a-year Bush tax cuts, as President Obama made clear today. But we also must close corporate tax loopholes in a way that raises additional net revenues. We must insist that corporations and the rich pay their fair share instead of shortchanging education, health care, technology and other investments in our future. President Obama does not yet have the balance right between spending cuts and new revenue. Without significant new revenues, we will just end up balancing the budget on the backs of the poor and the middle class.

The regressive and economically destructive plan of the Fiscal Commission Chairs is not a starting point. A number of groups on the Democratic side have come forward with plans and ideas that seek to restore fiscal health, tax fairness and investments in our future. Those ideas have to be the way forward to create an economy in which our children can thrive, with a renewed focus on creating good jobs.



Statement from Justin Ruben, Executive Director of MoveOn.org:

“MoveOn members will be relieved to hear President Obama take the Republicans' plan to abolish Medicare off the table, and encouraged by his promises to put the American Dream within reach for all Americans, but unfortunately, his plan isn't nearly bold enough to make them a reality. 

“With the richest 1% of Americans taking home a quarter of all income and facing the lowest tax rates in generations, we need to go much further to make sure millionaires and corporations pay their fair share, and Wall Street banks help clean up the mess they created.  The Congressional Progressive Caucus' plan does more to reduce the deficit, while protecting the middle class and the most vulnerable, by not letting Wall Street and the super-rich off the hook.”


Strengthen Social Security Campaign Statement on Obama Deficit-reduction Speech

(Washington, D.C.) – The Strengthen Social Security Campaign, a coalition of 300 organizations representing more than 50 million Americans, released the following statement from Campaign Co-Chair Eric Kingson in response to President Obama’s deficit-reduction speech today: 

 “We applaud the President for reminding Americans that Social Security is not in crisis and that it is not a cause of the nation’s deficits.  We cheer his strong opposition to all efforts to privatize or weaken America’s most successful and popular social program.  

“We urge the president to take the next logical step:  Remove Social Security from the bipartisan budget negotiations he is initiating.  Past Congresses have diligently kept Social Security separate from deficit debates.  Social Security is essential to the economic security of millions of Americans and can pay all benefits in full for the next quarter century. It should not be held hostage to a deficit-reduction deal.

We also urge the president to  make clear to the American people that the Social Security proposals put forth by the co-chairs of the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform fall woefully short of the principles he set forth today for acceptable changes to Social Security.  Their proposals would slash benefits for future generations, increase the retirement age and end Social Security as we know it.  Instead, the president should commit to following the will of the overwhelming majority of the American people who prefer increased revenues to cutting benefits.” 

Letters were sent to President Obama yesterday from 276 experts and scholars and from the Strengthen Social Security Campaign.