Obama Meets With Debt Commission Co-Chairs

President Obama made brief remarks before meeting with the co-chairmen of his fiscal commission, which was created to find ways to lower the federal deficit.

He told reporters that the final plan put forth by the commission served as the “framework” for his own plan, which he broadly outlined during a speech yesterday.

Obama thanked the co-chairs, Democrat Erskine Bowles and Republican Alan Simpson, for putting “everything on the table” in their plan, which aims to reduce the deficit by over $4 trillion over the next decade. The President said that the three men all believe in taking an approach that asks for “shared sacrifice” from all taxpayers.

The White House and congressional Democrats have criticized a plan released last week by House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), which cuts spending by roughly $6 trillion by 2021, but keeps in place several tax breaks for wealthy individuals and large corporations. Obama’s plan would retire a series of tax cuts for top earners at the end of next year, and would close a number of tax loopholes that benefit big businesses.

“It’s not appropriate for us to ask for sacrifices from everybody except for the two percent of Americans who are doing best,” Obama said. “Rather we should ask everybody to participate in this effort to get our fiscal house in order.”

The President drew the ire of progressives last December when he agreed to renew the Bush tax cuts. It’s likely that the White House will engage lawmakers and groups in the coming weeks to assure them that increasing rates on the wealthy is still a top priority.

Obama added that he expects Bowles and Simpson to assist Vice President Joe Biden, who will lead negotiations with lawmakers beginning later this Spring.