Sen. Bernie Sanders issued the following statement after President Barack Obama delivered a prime-time speech and congressional
leaders offered competing deficit-reduction proposals:

“The issue with regard to deficit reduction is pretty clear. Either we make devastating cuts to Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, education and the needs of working families or we ask the wealthiest people in our country and the largest corporations, most of whom are doing extremely well,  to give up some of their tax breaks and help us move toward a balanced budget.  In my view, it is immoral and bad economics to balance the budget on the backs of the weak and vulnerable. The Republicans must compromise.”