President Barack Obama vowed Monday he would veto any cuts to Medicare unless Congress approves tax increases on the wealthiest Americans.
“I will not support any plan that puts all the burden on closing our deficit on ordinary Americans,” Obama said. “We are not going to have a one-sided deal that hurts the folks who are most vulnerable.”
Obama sent his plan to the deficit reduction super committee, which offers more than $3 trillion in savings. Half of those savings would come from tax increases on the wealthy, the plan says.
The White Houseâs 80-page plan calls for winding down the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, reforming the tax code to include tax increases on the wealthy and âmodest adjustmentsâ to Medicare and Medicaid programs.
Republican leaders have criticized the plan, claiming any tax increases would delay economic recovery and amounted to âclass warfare.â
âPitting one group of Americans against another is not leadership,â House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) said in a statement.