President Obama meets students from Altona Middle School in Longmont, Colo., on the South Portico of the White House in Washington on Monday. Obama received a letter from Shalini Schane, far left, who was worried worried that her son Adam, second left, would have his trip canceled if there were to be a government shutdown last Friday. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)By JIM KUHNHENN
Associated Press
WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama, plunging into the rancorous struggle over America’s mountainous debt, will draw sharp differences with Republicans Wednesday over how to conquer trillions of dollars in spending while somehow working out a compromise to raise some taxes and trim a cherished program like Medicare.
Obama’s speech will set a new long-term deficit-reduction goal and establish a dramatically different vision from a major Republican proposal that aims to cut more than $5 trillion over the next decade, officials said Monday.
Details of Obama’s plan are being closely held so far, but the deficit-cutting target probably will fall between the $1.1 trillion he proposed in his 2012 budget proposal and the $4 trillion that a fiscal commission he appointed recommended in December.