Obama Unveils Debt Reduction Plan…Amidst Heckling

If you’ve been waiting for President Barack Obama’s debt reduction plan — you’ve been in good company. The long-awaited plan was just released on Monday, which outlined close to $3 trillion in savings. The plan, immediately attacked by top congressional Republicans and many others in the party, includes $1.5 trillion in new revenue that is supposed to come from taxing the rich.

Debt Reduction Plans

The plan doesn’t touch Social Security but would increase Medicare premiums for people with high incomes. Incidentally, it would only do so starting in 2017 the year Obama would finish his second term, should he win again.

As Obama explained, spending cuts by themselves

“will not solve our fiscal problems. We can’t just cut our way out of this hole. It’s going to take a balanced approach. If we’re going to make spending cuts — many of which we wouldn’t make if we weren’t facing such large budget deficits — then it’s only right that we ask everyone to pay their fair share.”

Republicans Punching Back

The Republicans punched back, saying that Obama’s plan was just a “thinly veiled attempt to score political points” as Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus said.

Democrats shot back, protecting their own and saying that, as North Dakota Sen. Kent Conrad point it, the “proposal is clearly moving in the right direction” and that “it represents a significant and balanced plan for bringing our deficit and debt under control.”

Certainly, Americans should expect that the 2012 presidential campaign will be filled with discussions about taxes and spending.