Obama Criticizes Republicans for Failing to Address Budget
Urges Congress to act now
President Obama took the podium Wednesday morning to talk about the economy and budget issues, and urge Republicans to agree on tax increases in order to reduce the annual budget deficit.
In his first solo appearance since March, the president stated the importance of taking steps to increase jobs and reviewing burdensome regulations so businesses are allowed to better prosper in the current environment.
However, his tone quickly changed as he criticized Republican House leaders for opposing tax increases as a way to tackle the deficit.
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“We’re going to have to tackle spending in the tax code,” Obama said. “It would be nice if we could keep every tax break there is, but we’ve got to make some tough choices here if we want to reduce our deficit.”
Obama specially referred to the elimination of tax breaks for millionaires, corporate jet owners and oil and gas companies. He also called on Congress to send him legislation making it easier for inventors to patent new products, to allow construction companies to more quickly begin new projects and submit trade agreements in order for American to be more competitive – issues that are all pending in Congress.
“I urge Congress to act on these ideas now,” he said.
Speaker of the House John Boehner has made it clear an increase in taxes is not on the table.
“There are no votes in the Congress … to raise taxes on anyone, so tax increases are off the table,” Boehner stated in a Tuesday evening interview on Fox News.
Obama said if there wasn’t an increase in corporate taxes, there possibly could be no college scholarships, no weather services and a reduction in food inspections.
Republicans countered by saying these are scare tactics put forth by the Obama administration. Additionally, they’re predicting the White House will tell seniors they won’t receive their Social Security checks or doctors may not get Medicare checks if a budget agreement is not reached by the August 2 deadline the president has put forth.
Obama is looking for $1 trillion in immediate spending cuts with a goal of $4 trillion over a 10-12 year window. “We need to restore business confidence and the confidence of the American people,” said Obama.
On Tuesday, the president was in Iowa touting job creation amid the struggling economy in preparation for today’s remarks.
When pressed on the issue of homosexual marriage on Wednesday, Obama touted his administration’s proactive positions by saying, “We’ve done more on gay issues in the last two and a half years than the prior 43 administrations have done.” In a reference New York’s recent passage of same-sex marriage, he said, “We’re moving in a direction of greater equality – I think that is a good thing.”
Obama stopped short of endorsing homosexual marriage saying he would not make news on that issue today.
