President Obama is proposing a five year spending freeze in his State of the Union address to be delivered at 9:00 p.m., according to his prepared remarks, but he is warning Republicans that have proposed much deeper cuts, “let’s make sure that we’re not doing it on the backs of our most vulnerable citizens.”
Obama also warned against cutting government spending that wasn’t excessive.
“Let’s make sure what we’re cutting is really excess weight. Cutting the deficit by gutting our investments in innovation and education is like lightening an overloaded airplane by removing its engine. It may feel like you’re flying high at first, but it won’t take long before you’ll feel the impact,” the speech says.
However, Obama does concede “I’m willing to eliminate whatever we can honestly afford to do without.”
The remarks are in stark contrast to the stance of Republicans, many of whom were swept into power on Nov. 2 in part from the energy of the Tea Party, who have vowed to reduce vast amounts of what they say is wasteful and unnecessary government spending.