WASHINGTON — President Obama met with top House Republican leaders over lunch at the White House yesterday, and was in agreement on the need to cut federal spending — even as he continues to roll out an array of big-bucks stimulus projects.
“He thought it was constructive,” White House spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters afterward. “They agreed on cutting spending and reducing the deficit.”
The president also signed on to the Republican battle cry from last fall’s elections that serious and drastic measures must be taken to fix the federal government before it bankrupts America.
Obama agrees “that we should have a broad discussion with the American people about the size and scope of the problem that we face getting our fiscal house in order,” Gibbs said.
Republican leaders likewise sounded an optimistic tone after the meeting, despite their ongoing efforts in the House to hack away at Obama’s spending plan.
“It was a very good lunch, and we’re able to find enough common ground, I think, to show the American people that we’re willing to work on their behalf, and willing to do it together,” House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) told reporters outside the White House.
Also at the meeting were House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) and Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.).
Obama’s newfound fiscal conservatism comes after a two-year spending spree that led to a record-smashing $1.4 trillion budget deficit last year and is on par to break that record again this year.
His reversal comes just one day after Vice President Biden proposed that the federal government spend $53 billion on high-speed trains. The proposal was instantly panned by Republicans, who pointed out the long history of exorbitant costs and poor performance of the government-run railway system.
Obama’s fiscal conservatism will be put to the test very soon, since Republicans just this week unveiled a proposal for cutting $74 billion from the president’s budget for the current fiscal year.
The list of cuts released by Appropriations Committee Chairman Hal Rogers (R-Ky.) target Amtrak, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Internal Revenue Service and the National Endowment for the Arts, among many, many other programs and agencies in the federal government.
Obama’s budget proposal for next year will be released next week, and is expected to increase spending in several areas, including education and infrastructure.