Game of chicken as Obama, Republicans debate long-term deficits

Feb 16, 2011, 0:56 GMT

Washington - President Barack Obama on Tuesday said he was open to reforming the entitlement programmes at the heart of the United States' long-term debt woes as he set out to defend a series of budget proposals unveiled at the start of this week.

But Obama rebuffed demands by Republican Party lawmakers that he take the first step, telling reporters that tackling he government's structural debts involved both political parties 'getting in that boat at the same time, so it doesn't tip over.'

The arguments over who should lead reflects the political sensitivities of touching government health and pension plans in the United States. That could hamper attempts to halt the skyrocketing costs of the Social Security pension plan or public-run health insurance plans Medicare for the elderly and Medicaid for the poor.

Obama's comments came one day after he unveiled a 3.7-trillion- dollar budget blueprint for the 2012 fiscal year, including cuts to many government programmes. He also proposed new 'investments' in sectors he argued would make the US more competitive in the long run.

Conservative Republicans roundly criticized Obama's proposals, calling for much sharper cuts in government spending and saying Obama offered no solutions to bring down the spiralling long-term costs of Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security.

'The drivers of our debt are the entitlement programmes, and yet you're doing nothing to address that,' Republican Congressman Paul Ryan said in a congressional hearing Tuesday with Obama's budget director, Jacob Lew.

Ryan said voters 'expect the president to lead.'

Obama in a press conference responded: 'If you look at the history of how these deals get done, typically it's not because there's an Obama plan out there. It's because Democrats and Republicans are both committed to tackling this issue in a serious way.'

Obama said he expected 'big, tough negotiations' in the coming months and possibly years. He urged patience from the public and the media.

'Let's face it, you guys are pretty impatient,' Obama told reporters.

'My goal is that a year from now or two years from now, people will look back and say, 'You know what? We actually started making progress on this issue.''