WASHINGTON–The nation’s debt has become an increasingly important issue in the minds of Americans, and President Barack Obama is pushing his plan to solve the deficit and ease the debt crisis by going directly to Americans with his message.
Obama addressed students at Northern Virginia Community College in suburban Washington on Tuesday, saying the government will tackle the deficit despite the “fierce disagreements” of leaders of the two parties.
“The debate isn’t about whether we reduce our deficit but how we reduce our deficit,” he said. “…If we don’t close this deficit, now that the economy has begun to grow again, if we keep on spending more than we take in, it’s going to cause serious damage to our economy.”
On Monday, Standard & Poors put a “negative” outlook on the U.S. credit rating for the first time, citing the rising deficit.
Recent polls show Americans are not satisfied with the way Obama is handling the economy and are worried about the debt. Forty-six percent of Americans strongly disapprove of the job he is doing according to a Washington Post/ABC News poll released Tuesday. Only 16 percent want Congress to raise the debt ceiling according to a recent NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll.
The president last week announced a bipartisan commission to address the federal budget deficit, led by Vice President Joe Biden. An early that is tasked with developing a bipartisan plan to curb federal budget deficits. But GOP leaders already have strongly criticized the plan Obama is taking to the people, saying it will hurt economic recovery efforts.
The Republican-controlled House recently passed legislation to cut nearly $6 trillion in spending over 10 years.
Obama blamed the Bush administration’s wars, tax cuts for the wealthy and prescription drug plan for starting the deficit problem. The government relied on creditors too heavily, he said.
“Just like any student on a tight budget…America has to start living within its means,” he said. “For a long time Washington acted like deficits didn’t matter. A lot of folks promised us a free lunch.”
Increased federal spending in the wake of 2008 economic crash is also partly to blame for the current debt crisis, he said.
Obama repeated the plan he laid out in his economic address at George Washington University last week, emphasizing the need to slash spending while sparing cuts in infrastructure and education. He has been critical of the GOP’s proposed budget which he said makes deep cuts from important government programs.
His plan heavily relies on repealing the Bush tax cuts for the upper brackets of wage earners. The government has lost important revenue from millionaires and billionaires, he said.
“We’ve also got to end tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans,” he said. “This is not because we want to punish success…But we are going to have everyone to sacrifice.”
Obama called the controversial tax plan “shared responsibility.”.
“We can’t just tell the wealthiest among us: ‘You just sit there and relax, we’re going to solve this problem,’” he said.
House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., slammed Obama’s plan to raise taxes, saying it would stifle economic growth.
Tuesday’s town hall meeting was the first in a three-day tour by Obama to sell his debt plan. Wednesday he will hold another town hall at Facebook headquarters in California.
When Congress returns on May 2, it will be faced with a vote on raising the debt ceiling. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has said the U.S. will likely reach its debt limit on May 16.
At an April 5 Senate Appropriations Subcommittee hearing, Geithner said there would be “catastrophic” consequences if Congress did not vote to raise the debt limit. He warned that credit default could precipitate a severe global economic crisis.
It would not be the first time the debt ceiling has been raised by Congress. A limit on the debt has been in place since 1917 and in the past 10 years, Congress has voted to raise it ten times. Obama voted against raising the debt ceiling as a senator in 2006.