U.S. President Barack Obama says his soon-to-be released budget is not his "ideal plan" but offers "tough reforms" for benefit programs and scuttles some tax breaks for the wealthy. That's a mix, he contends, that will provide long-term deficit reduction without harming the economy. In his first comments about the 2014 spending blueprint he's set to release Wednesday, President Obama said he intends to reduce deficits and provide new money for public works projects, early education and job training. "We don't have to choose between these goals - we can do both," President Obama said in his weekly radio and Internet address, broadcast Saturday. "It's a compromise I'm willing to accept in order to move beyond a cycle of short-term, crisis-driven decision-making, and focus on growing our economy and our middle class for the long run," President Obama said. President Obama proposes spending cuts and revenue increases that would result in $1.8 trillion in deficit reductions over 10 years, replacing $1.2 trillion in automatic spending cuts that are otherwise poised to take effect over the next 10 years. Counting reductions and higher taxes that Congress and President Obama have approved since 2011, the 2014 budget would contribute $4.3 trillion to total deficit reduction by 2023. Obama's plan includes $580 billion in new taxes that Republicans oppose. In his address, President Obama said he would achieve deficit reduction by making "tough reforms" to Medicare and enacting "common-sense tax reform that includes closing wasteful tax loopholes for the wealthy and well-connected." President Obama made no mention of the effect his budget would have on Social Security and other social safety net programs.
