Obama Mulls Tax Hikes, Medicare Tweaks to Cut Deficit by $4 Trillion

President Barack Obama proposed lowering the nation's future deficits by $4 trillion over the next 12 years through lower spending in health care programs and tax increases.

In a nationally televised address on Wednesday, the president proposed reductions in the growth of Medicare spending, cuts in defense, an overhaul of the tax system to eliminate loopholes and an end to Bush-era tax cuts for wealthier Americans.

"We have to live within our means, we have to reduce our deficit and we have to get back on a path that will allow us to pay down our debt," Obama said.

Obama blamed rising debt on spending increases and tax cuts enacted during the Bush presidency and the 2007 recession.

"We lost our way," he said.

The president got push-back from Republicans when he previewed his proposals to congressional leaders ahead of his speech Wednesday morning.

"If we're going to resolve our differences and do something meaningful, raising taxes will not be part of that," House Speaker John Boehner said.

This new clash comes just a week after the president announced he would seek re-election.

With the Associated Press