THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

STATEMENT OF CHIEF OF STAFF LEON PANETTA

Last week, the President proposed a sensible ten-year plan to balance the budget. It has necessary cuts in government spending but avoids unnecessary pain.

While we agree with the Congress on the need to achieve a balanced budget, there is a right way and a wrong way to do it.

The President's plan protects Medicare beneficiaries, invests in education, and provides a tax cut to the middle class, while the Republican budget apparently still calls for extreme cuts in Medicare and unwise cuts in education to pay for tax cuts to those who don't need them.

The President will continue to take his case to the American people for a bipartisan balanced budget that protects Medicare beneficiaries and education investments for our children, and targets tax cuts towards the middle class. That's the right way.

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