"Willing To Do What It Takes, Whatever It Takes"

"President Obama says raising taxes to cut the deficit is a "balanced"
approach.

"Balanced ...

"But what's "balanced" about raising taxes after vast increases in spending? Trillions for war, Medicare, "stimulus" and solar panels. Tax receipts rose -- after tax-rate cuts -- from $1.9 billion in 2003 to $2.3 billion in 2008, the year the recession started. That increase couldn't keep up with the spending. The deficit doubled -- actually, more than doubled -- as politicians increased spending to nearly $4 trillion! Our debt, at more than $16 trillion, now exceeds our gross domestic product."
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2012/12/19/its_the_spending_st 
upid__116460.html

The President says this kind of thing because he's a politician, which is why I no longer listen to politicians. You can tell what they'll say before they say it. They'll say whatever is necessary to justify doing what they want, or getting what they want (elected, for one).  "If Republicans and Democrats reach a deal, the tax increases will be real -- but spending "cuts" probably illusions. If they actually happen, they will only be reductions in already planned increases. The Wall Street Journal notes that when the two parties talk about cutting spending by $4 trillion over a decade, "those numbers have no real meaning because they are conjured in the wilderness of mirrors that is the federal budget process. Since 1974, Capitol Hill's 'baseline' has automatically increased spending every year according to Congressional Budget Office projections ... . Tax and spending changes are then measured off that inflated baseline."  How can you tell they are not serious? They are not even talking about this: "Given our growing debt, can't they even slow the growth of government to the rate of inflation? Or inflation plus 1 percent? Or even inflation plus 2 percent? That might balance the budget within a decade."