"Closing the door on that slush fund, I believe, will achieve real savings as we move into the out years."
"I think what the president has proposed is that we want to achieve a net of $1.5 trillion in additional revenue, and doing it in a way that protects middle income taxpayers, but does ask the folks at ..."
"I dare say that Republicans and Democrats alike agree that the sequester is not the best way to achieve that deficit reduction."
"The Simpson-Bowles commission, the bipartisan commission, set $4 trillion in deficit reduction as their 10 year window."
"This is not about the politics of envy or class warfare, this about how do we solve a deficit problem in a way that asks for shared responsibility."
"It seems perfectly reasonable, and I think an ordinary American watching this proceeding would agree that you should be able to count the effort we made already toward the $4 trillion."
"Ninety-eight percent of our Republican colleagues have signed a pledge saying they won't close one special interest tax loophole for the purpose of deficit reduction."
"This isn't just my opinion and that of these bipartisan groups--economists like Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke have also argued against immediate spending cuts that will jeopardize our economic..."
"that balance is what our Republican colleagues have objected to"
"I think after your testimony in the Senate yesterday that you are already battle-tested."
"I think what we see here in the president's budget is a responsible approach"