Obama unveils deficit reduction framework

As Washington feverishly debates ways to reduce the nation's mounting debt, President Obama weighed in on Wednesday with his most detailed plan yet, one which vows to cut $4 trillion in federal spending over 12 years. The Obama framework, as administration officials call it, proposes a number of avenues for reducing federal spending including savings in Medicare, cuts in defense spending and a repeal of the Bush era tax cuts. The White House calls this a "balanced" approach, juxtaposing it with the plan put forward by Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., that will be taken up by the House later this week. The president's framework also calls for Congress to enact "Debt Failsafe trigger" that will cut federal spending if Congress can't. Obama has also asked each congressional party leader to designate two members who will engage in bicameral, bipartisan negotiations led by Vice President Joe Biden. The plan offers opportunities and risks for Obama. On one hand it allows him to reframe the debate on terms that leave him as the champion of the popular Medicare program. On the other, he's offering enough cuts that he's likely to anger his party's liberal base going into an election year when he'll need their energy and enthusiasm. Even before the president spoke at George Washington University, Republicans rejected the call for rate hikes for the wealthiest taxpayers. "We don't believe a lack of revenue is part of the problem," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said after leaving a White House meeting. The discussion of long-term debt comes just days after the president and Republicans agreed on cuts to the 2011 budget and as the so-called "Gang of Six" Republican and Democratic senators try to forge their own ideas for debt reduction--a Herculean task given the chasm between the parties over tax hikes and Medicare cuts. Notably in the speech, the president rejected the idea that Social Security is a big part of the nation's fiscal problems. However he did leave open the possibility of tinkering with the program to accommodate the challenges posed by the retirement of the baby boom generation. Obama also called for comprehensive tax reform by reducing loopholes and lowering rates across the board. His bipartisan fiscal commission also called for tax reform in its report released late last year.