An auction house says it has decided not to sell a vial that it says contains blood residue from Ronald Reagan.WASHINGTON – Sen. Evan Bayh, D-Ind., pressed President Obama on federal spending Wednesday as Democratic senators met for a strategy conference and asked him why the Democratic Party should be trusted in dealing with the public purse.
Obama said the party deserves Americans’ trust “because the last time this budget was balanced, it was under a Democratic president who made some very tough decisions,” a reference to former President Bill Clinton, who created a budget surplus.
Bayh’s views on the deficit and federal spending have set him somewhat apart from the White House and other Senate Democrats.
“Frankly,” Bayh said, “I think the public and average citizen have been way ahead of the political class on this. They understand in the long run this is unsustainable, it’s bad economics. They understand that generationally, it’s unfair to our children to ask them to pay these bills. And most of all, there’s a sense of unfairness.”
Bayh praised Obama for announcing plans to freeze some federal spending in the 2011 budget and his call for more transparency for budget add-ons that lawmakers approve.
But, he said, “my question to you, Mr. President, is (in) speaking to independents, conservative Democrats, moderate Republicans – people who know we have to do this – why should the Democratic Party be trusted? And are we willing to make some of the tough decisions to actually head this country in a better direction?”
After Obama said Democrats are trustworthy on responsible spending, he added:
“Now, having said that, we have been complicit in some ways over the last decade. The prescription drug bill – not paid for. Two wars – not paid for. Two tax cuts – not paid for. The emergence of a structural deficit that is only going to grow because we all know that the biggest drivers are Medicare and Medicaid, and as people get older, as the population gets older, and as new technologies come online, people are demanding new services for health care, those are going to become more and more expensive, and that’s what’s going to blow up the budget in the long term.”
But he said those issues have been building for years and during Republican administrations.
“It’s like the cartoon: You’re sort of standing there and somebody hands you a ticking time bomb and it explodes, and you’ve got all this gunpowder on your hands, and you didn’t construct the bomb, but you’re holding it,” Obama said.
He said Congress and the White House have to explain to voters how the $1.3 trillion deficit developed, that $3 trillion in revenue is lost because of the recession and that there’s a projected $8 trillion debt over the next 10 years.
“I think the way that we regain trust is to pursue good policies but not be afraid also to explain these policies, and to be honest with the American people that we’re not going to dig ourselves out of this hole overnight,” he said.
“What we will not have solved is that huge structural deficit that existed the day I walked in. And we’ve got to be able to tell the truth to the American people that that is hard to solve,” Obama said.
“And the reason it’s hard to solve is most of it is coming from entitlements (such as Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security and education programs) that people like. And it has to do with the fact that there’s this huge gap between the amount of money being paid out and the amount of money coming in.”
Obama implored Senate Democrats to stay aggressive in pushing their agenda despite the loss of one vital seat, saying, “We still have to lead.”
Obama sharpened his challenge to Republicans in an attempt to put an emboldened opposition on the spot. Obama warned: “We’ll call them out when they say they want to work with us, and we extend a hand and get a fist in return.”
Obama reminded Democrats they still hold a 59-41 majority, one shy of the 60 needed to overcome Republican filibuster delay tactics. Democrats lost a “super majority” when Republican Scott Brown won in a special election upset in Massachusetts.
Obama said that for Democrats searching for a lesson from that election, “The answer is not to do nothing.”
Obama urged Democrats to push legislation that, above all else, will help people get jobs.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.
