Senator John Kerry (D-Mass.) today released the following statement on the Republican response to President Obama's speech today.
"It's sad commentary on how dysfunctional Washington is that before the President says a word, Republican leaders race to the microphones to announce they won't even consider asking the wealthiest Americans and the richest corporations to share a penny more in the responsibility to tackle the debt and deficit that threaten our economy.
"This is the same crew that doesn't blink an eye about making radical changes to Medicare and Medicaid that everyone acknowledges would cause pain to seniors, but they won't even let the president introduce his plan before they say new revenue is off limits. Seniors have to do more with less but the people with the most get more? What happened to the notion that everything had to be on the table, let alone the American conviction that everyone shares responsibility for our country's future?
"This is the opposite of adult leadership, and it's an insult to the work of the deficit commission which made tough decisions about revenue, spending, and entitlements. It is unrealistic to believe we can reduce the deficit without putting everything on the table. The President is laying out his plan to reduce our deficit by $4 trillion in the next 12 years or less. It's a detailed plan that makes hard choices, and includes many of the recommendations of the Bipartisan Fiscal Commission. Leaders of every party need to at least listen before they leap off an ideological bridge to nowhere."