Obama: It's Not About Punishing The Rich

President Obama took his deficit message on the road today, though he didn’t stray too far from Washington.

During a downhill event on the campus of the University of Maryland, located a half hour from the White House in nearby College Park, Md., the President told a crowd of roughly 1,350 that he will continue to push for a deficit reduction package that takes a balanced approach to slicing into the nation’s debt.

“The free market system is the greatest wealth generator we’ve ever known,” Obama said. “This isn’t about punishing wealth, this is about asking people who have benefitted the most over the last decade to share in the sacrifice.”

That line was met with a roar of applause from the younger members in the audience.

Obama has been engaged with leaders from both parties for weeks, but has yet to convince the two sides to agree to a deficit reduction package that would feature a mix of spending cuts and tax increases. Since taking back the House last November, Republicans have firmly stated their opposition to raising the country’s debt limit unless Democrats accept trillions in cuts in return. Most of the plans currently being debated would lower spending over time, but the GOP has balked at proposals to either end tax breaks for businesses or sunset tax cuts for the wealthy.

“This would be easier if I could do this entirely on my own,” Obama joked. “It would mean all these conversations I’ve had over the last three weeks…I could’ve been spending time with Malia and Sasha instead.”

In fact, one of the proposals being looked at by lawmakers would relieve Congress of the burden of having to raise the debt ceiling by putting the task completely on Obama’s shoulders. However, that plan, introduced by Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), was roundly rejected by House conservatives fearful of allowing Obama to singlehandedly borrow more money with no strings attached.

Meanwhile, the Senate voted Friday morning to table the House-passed “Cut, Cap And Balance Act,” which would’ve drastically reduced spending, put caps in place to keep futute spending low and required a two-thirds majority of states to ratify a Balanced Budget Amendment to the Constitution. By “tabling” a motion to proceed on the bill, Senate Democrats, who control the majority, effectively killed any hope Republicans had of sending the legislation to Obama’s desk.