President Obama rejected the Republican Party’s calls for a balanced budget, saying it would require slashing entitlements, during an interview with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos. Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) released his budget proposal Tuesday, which aims to balance the budget in 10 years.
“My goal is not to chase a balanced budget just for the sake of balance,” Obama said. “My goal is how do we grow the economy, put people back to work, and if we do that we are going to be bringing in more revenue.”
Obama also criticized Ryan’s budget for slashing entitlements like Medicaid. “We’re not gonna balance the budget in ten years because if you look at what Paul Ryan does to balance the budget, it means that you have to voucherize Medicare, you have to slash deeply into programs like Medicaid, you’ve essentially got to– either tax– middle class families a lot higher than you currently are or you can’t lower rates the way he’s promised,” he said.
“So it’s really, you know, it’s a reprise of the same legislation that he’s put before.”
The interview will air Wednesday on “Good Morning America” and “Nightline.”
