Obama slams GOP economic proposals

September 26, 2010 at 12:00a.m.

MarketWatch

WASHINGTON

President Barack Obama slammed a recent package of Republican proposals, calling their plan “the very same policies that led to the economic crisis in the first place,” in his weekly address Saturday.

The GOP’s plan wasn’t surprising “since many of their leaders were among the architects of that failed policy,” Obama said.

“It is grounded in the same worn-out philosophy: Cut taxes for millionaires and billionaires; cut the rules for Wall Street and the special interests; and cut the middle class loose to fend for itself,” Obama said. “That’s not a prescription for a better future. It’s an echo of a disastrous decade we can’t afford to relive.”

With elections approaching, Republicans presented on Thursday “A Pledge to America,” a plan that the GOP says will “stop out-of-control spending and reduce the size of government.”

“With common-sense exceptions for seniors, veterans and our troops, we will roll back government spending to pre-stimulus, pre-bailout levels, saving us at least $100 billion in the first year alone and putting us on a path to balance the budget and pay down the debt,” according to the plan. “We will also establish strict budget caps to limit federal spending from this point forward.”

In the weekly Republican address delivered Saturday, Rep. Kevin McCarthy of California pushed the “Pledge to America.”

“The new agenda embodies Americans’ rejection of the notion that we can simply tax, borrow and spend our way to prosperity,” McCarthy said.