Obama says GOP 'pledge' irresponsible


By:

CNN Ticker Producer Alexander Mooney





(CNN) – President Barack Obama is responding to the GOP's so-called "pledge to America," saying the newly unveiled 21-page document is nothing more than a continuation of "irresponsible policies."



"What I'm seeing out of the Republican leadership over the last several years has been a set of policies that are just irresponsible. And we saw in their 'Pledge to America' a similar set of irresponsible policies," he told NBC's Matt Lauer Monday morning.





"They propose $4 trillion worth of tax cuts and $16 billion in spending cuts and they say we're going to somehow magically balance the budget, the president continued. "That's not a serious approach. So the question for voters over the next five weeks is who is putting forward policies that have a chance to move our country forward."



The comments came less than a week after House Republican leaders ventured to Sterling, Virginia to reveal the pledge in what amounted to a clear effort to recapture the spirit of their 1994 election landslide.



Among other things, House GOP leaders pledged to permanently extend all of the Bush-era tax cuts due to expire at the end of this year - including for individuals making over $250,000. They also proposed giving small businesses a tax deduction equal to 20 percent of their income, while requiring Congress to review any new federal regulations that add to the deficit.



They pushed a domestic spending freeze, with the exception of certain politically sensitive programs such as veterans' benefits.



While stressing the need to reduce spiraling deficits, they did not offer specifics on how to restrain the growth of entitlement programs such as Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.