Obama, GOP lob rhetorical fireworks over budget and debt

Barack Obama talks tax breaks, spending

'We’ve got to cut the deficit, but we can do that while making investments,' said Obama. | AP

President Barack Obama said that every federal program and tax break should be scrutinized for potential spending cuts, in his Fourth of July weekend address to the nation Saturday.
Obama praised both parties for finding more than $1 trillion in spending cuts in the deficit discussions led by Vice President Joe Biden and hailed a push in urgency to resolve the deficit crisis as “good news.”

But he warned there is much to be done, adding that no program or tax break should be exempt from scrutiny.

“Now, it would be nice if we could keep every tax break, but we can’t afford them,” the president said, echoing a message he had stated in a press conference at the White House on Wednesday. “Because if we choose to keep those tax breaks for millionaires and billionaires, or for hedge fund managers and corporate jet owners, or for oil and gas companies pulling in huge profits without our help — then we’ll have to make even deeper cuts somewhere else.”
He said that allowing the wealthiest tier of Americans to keep their tax breaks would adversely affect college scholarships, medical research and Medicare benefits.
“That isn’t right, and it isn’t smart,” Obama said. “We’ve got to cut the deficit, but we can do that while making investments in education, research and technology that actually create jobs.”
He said that finding a way to reduce the nation’s deficit will help put the economy back on the right track and bring jobs back on the market, while acknowledging the financial hardships many American families face.Read more:read more.