In a
short statement delivered from the White House this afternoon, President Obama responded to the S&P's downgrade of U.S. debt by pledging to work towards "a balanced long-term approach to deficit reduction." Obama said that the U.S. was a AAA-rated nation no matter what ratings agency say, but that his "hope is that Friday's news will give us a renewed sense of urgency" about the importance of deficit reduction. He pledged to "stay on it until we get the job done."
Obama said that securing a long-term deficit reduction plan would provide "more room" to agree to a set of job creation measures, including extending the payroll tax cut, extending unemployment insurance, and creating an infrastructure bank. He called for Congress to pass those measures immediately, though Republicans have thus far refused.
Obama said he would unveil his proposals for how the "Gang of 12" supercommittee should further reduce deficits in the coming weeks. He argued that discretionary spending had been reduced as far as it could go and that future deficit reduction efforts should focus on tax reform and "modest adjustments" to Medicare.
President Obama also honored the troops who were killed over the weekend in Afghanistan.