in fact, that was a highly successful legislative year and the president hopes those opportunities will present themselves this year. it takes merely a willingness to compromise, a willingness to not adhere to idealogical standards that say no way, no how, are we ever going to ask the wealthiest americans to pay just a little bit more so we don't have to shift all the burden on senior citizens. let me move around. yes, foreign policy and then brianna. >> back on syria, you probably wouldn't talk about this if you knew because it involves intelligence issues, but is there a reason the white house thinks for the u.s. applying intelligence assets to sharing those with the opposition in syria hasn't been discussed with partners and allies to this point? >> i think you're right, that it is not the kind of thing i would be able to speak to here. we're obviously working with a broad array of allies and partners who are friends of

syria and who have as their goal in this effort a democratic transition in syria that follows the cessation of the ab or ent violence they're perpetrating on their own people. how we get there, there is a number of aspects to that that mostly involve coordinating with our international partners and further pressuring and isolating asad. yes, jc? >> how concerned is this administration the counter urn r insurgency in fact could have the earmarks, could have the markings of an embedded al qaeda? >> look, i think as these kinds of questions were asked during the period of the situation in libya, we don't know everything about what the so-called opposition is. remember, the situation in syria

is one where peaceful protests were fired upon and that when the violence is pretty one-sided here. if you are referring to the comments about aqi and others, we find it worth noting that overall the air has beens bring and what it represents and the way that it demonstrates the desire for greater freedom and prosperity and for democracy in the region by the people of the region is an absolute repudiation of the ideology of al qaeda, and it proves even pretty decisively that the approach of terrorism and violence perpetrated on innocent civilians has been rejected all around the world including in the very region where this arab

string is taking place. >> is there a question this may not be so simple, so cut-and-dried? >> i don't have an analysis for you. i think we obviously carefully evaluate movements, groups, individuals in the region and in all of these areas as this process and this tumulutous process continues, but i don't have anything specific with regard to syria in your question. brianna first. >> in 2009 president obama said i am pledging to cut the deficit we inherited by half by the end of my first term in office. was it a mistake for him to make that promise? >> it was a promise based on what we knew about the economy at the time as has been well established in this briefing and many other places. the economy turns out to have been far worse and far greater distress when the president was running for office and then took office than we knew at the time. even as recently as, i don't know, six or eight months ago we

thought that the economy schlange by something like 4 or 5% in the fourth quarter of 2008. we now now it shrank by 9%. it was far worse than we knew and in spite of that fact the president's budget he put forward today achieves that goal of having, cutting in half the deficit in five years instead of four which demonstrates his commitment to responsible and responsibly reducing our deficit and getting our fiscal house in order. >> his budget calls for carried interest to be taxed as ordinary income, something obviously mitt romney benefits from very much, that tax provision. is this also a political swipe at him? >> not at all. we have held this position with regards to carried interest for quite some time. we simply believe that with respect to specifically to carried interest that money earned as a result of work

performed should be taxed in the same way whether you are a hedge fund manager or a shift worker as income, and that's the principle behind the approach we have taken to carried interest. it again goes to the broader principle embodied in the buffett rule which is that millionaires and billionaires shouldn't be paying a lower effective tax rate on their income than average folks, in this case the mr. buffet's secretary, so that's the approach to carried interest. it is not aimed at an individual. it is a matter of bachk fairness. >> shouldn't we expect to hear the president ultimately here in the coming months talk about mitt romney and carried interest in the same breath assuming? >> again, this is not about -- i can refer you to the campaign if they want to preview campaign lines. i know because i have heard him talk about it, this about --

this isn't about raising revenues for the sake of raising revenues. it is about having a balanced and fair approach to ensure that as we get our deficit and debt under control we're investing in the things that will help the economy grow in the long-term and that includes education and innovation and making sure that we're investing in clean energy technologies so that we enhance our energy independence in the 21st century. it is about building a foundation for competing and winning economically in the 21st century, and we need to make sure that we invest in those key areas or we will fall behind. that's unacceptable to this president. he insists that america remain the great economy that it is because of the best workforce in the country and he insists that it has the best infrastructure and the best innovative technologies going forward because that's how we're going

to win in the 21st century. it is about making responsible choices, and one of them is simply asking that hedge fund managers who benefit enormously from the so-called carried interest rule pay income tax at the effective rate that average folks pay. >> does the president plan to keep talking about the contrasepgs policy and is the blunt and rubio legislation something the administration is really worried about succeeding? >> well, i can't predict its future. we know that it is wrong. we know that saying that any woman can be denied access to these preventive services by her employer is absolutely the wrong approach. the president feels that the policy he announced on friday

achieves the appropriate balance between the need to extend these services to all women no matter where they work and to ensure they have access without cost to important preventive services like contracep ti on and doing it while protecting religious liberties and being sensitive to the concerns raised by religious institutions and i point to the statements by the catholic charities and the catholic health association as evidence we believe of the fact that this balance has been achieved. >> so we can examine p to hear more from him going forward? >> i think the president throughout this process has been interested in finding the right policy, the right to ensuring that women have access to preventive services free of charge and to doing so in a way that is sensitive to religious

believes. as you heard him stand at this podium on friday and talk from the heart about why he believes that is important. he believes both goals are very important and they are not mutually exclusive and that's why he instructed his administration to find a solution to this and was pleased that they did. >> two questions. china's vice president with the visit to the u.s. first, tomorrow it will be the very first time the president and the vice president to meet each other and so what's the president, the impression on him so far and also what's the expectation of the president and also -- >> of the president? >> of the president and on als the second question ahead of his visit he will give brief interview to the washington post and at the time say when the

ability and the development to scale up military deployment and strengthened although lineses is not really what most countries in the region hope to see. what's the reaction from the white house to his recent interview? >> i don't have a specific reaction to that. i would simply say as you heard the president describe quite fully during his recent trip to asia, you know, the united states of america are a pacific power. we are an economic power as well as a power with important security relationships in the region, and the president feels very strongly that in the previous decade prior to his taking office and the previous eight years that the region was somewhat neglected by the united states because of its preoccupation and focus on the middle east and in particular on

iraq. he has sought to rebalance our focus and our national security approach as well as our economic approach, international economic approach to reflect the important role that the region is playing economically and the important role our relations with china and with countries all around the region will play in the 21st century. it is not an either-or as far as he is concerned. it is a both and, and i think he spelled that clearly during his trip to asia, and you will hear various administration officials i think reflect those views during this important visit this week. i don't have any description for you of the president's views. i know he looks forward to meeting vice president xi jinping and he is glad that vice president biden is hosting this visit and thinks it is very

important because we have so many important matters between our two countries. last one. >> briefly back to the bombings. net incoanyah netanyahu, is he jumping the gun, getting ahead of himself? >> i don't have an assessment to give you of what the israeli government is saying. i simply can tell you that we have not make a judgment yet because details are still emerging regarding what happened and we have no information yet to share with you about who was behind those attacks. we're obviously working and discussing with the israelis and others to ascertain exactly that. >> do you know whether the president ever met with the houston and is he a fan of her music? thank you. >> it is exactly what i was going to ask. go ahead. >> i actually don't know if he

has ever met -- if he did ever meet whitney houston, and as for his -- i think it would be hard not to be an admirer of her immense talent, and i know that -- well, i haven't spoken with him about it. i know that his thoughts and prayers are with her family, and especially her daughter and it is a tragedy to lose somebody so talented at such a young age. i don't have anything more on that for you. >> thank you, all. >> i don't have anything for you on that. >> thanks.

the white house briefing today included questions about the president's budget proposal for 2013 which includes $3.8 trillion in spending, taxes of 2.9 trillion, and deficit projections of $1.3 trillion this year and $900 billion next year. you can read about the budget and see the president's comments online at c-span.org and we posted a question on c-span's facebook page to weigh in on what you think of the proposal. join the conversation at facebook.com/c-span. next, senate republicans responded to president obama's budget earlier today. the president's proposal projects a $1.3 trillion deficit, and you will hear from the ranking republican of the budget committee, jeff sessions of alabama and other members of the leadership that spoke for about 30 minutes.

>> come on in. here we go. the budget submitted by the president of the united states is more than just a document that has lines and expenditures in it. a budget represents the vision that that president has for the future of america. in this case it will be ten years but as mr. bernanke told us a few days ago in the budget committee that you really need be to looking beyond the ten-year window. that's an artificial window, paic systemic problems like our entitlements that are growing so rapidly. i believe the american people are entitled to and must have an honest budget, a budget that clearly lays out the challenges that we face and we do face challenges and how the chief

executive would expect to meet those challenges. i can't imagine a governor in alabama, gov more bentley, not seizing the opportunity to present a budget to layout how he will meet the budgets that we have. these are matters that executives have to lead on. this is a fourth year of this president's term in office. this is his final opportunity to layout a coherent vision for how this country ought to meet the challenges that we're facing financially. remember, his chairman of the joint chiefs, admiral mullins said debt is the greatest threat to our national security. just this morning on msnbc richard oss chairman of council on foreign relations showed film much greece and he said this could be the united states next

year. and testifying before the budget committee last year said we're facing a debt crisis and it could happen as early as two years, and we're in that second year now. this is not a little matter. it is not something that is just normal dog and pony show around congress. it reflects the challenges that we face. i will say a couple of things about it. under the pronouncements that we're hearing from the white house, this budget reduces our deficit by $4 trillion. that is absolutely untrue. it doesn't reduce the deficit at all virtually, and it is just a stunning thing. i saw the tag line on cnn this morning that it would reduce spending by $4 trillion. give me a break. it increases spending 1.5 trillion. it increases taxes 2 trillion

almost, 1.9 trillion. in his own budget the total debt that he projects in the documents that he has given to us would increase by 11 approximate the $2 trillion -- $11.2 trillion. that's how much the debt would increase where as the budget control act that we passed last year and the president basically agreed to, although resisted spending aggressively reductions, that over ten years scores $11.5 trillion in increase in the deficit. so the president's budget does not save $4 trillion. it does not save $1 trillion. it does not save a third of a trillion according to the best estimates we can come up with. it is about under $300 billion that it would save over ten years. so basically there is no change on our debt course.

it is a deeply troubling thing to me, and i deeply believe that it is a matter that should be discussed, and we have now gone four years without anything occurring that would get us off the dangerous debt course we're on except that this president during his tenure in office added $6.3 trillion to the gross debt of the united states. now, i got a group of folks behind me. i will be glad to yield to them. who is going to go? you take the list. >> thanks very much, jeff. i believe that the president has abandoned his role as leader of this nation by not being honest with the american people about the significance of the national debt, and that's why somebody asked me if this bunl was dead on arrival. i said, no, it is not dead on arrival, it is dead on arrival. that's what we're seeing.

the president, this is an ambush budget. the president is ambushing the american people by promising to cut the deficit by $4 trillion when in fact over the next 10 years, he adds to the debt by 1 $11 trillion. additionally he has this pperfe the spending he demands are things that we just can't not afford. this is the fourth year in a row when what we are seeing is a deficit of over a trillion. but remember in 2009, the president has promised the american people that he would cut the deficit and a half by t the last year in his first year in office.

so we have gone 1,000 days without a budget passing the senate. last year his budget came to the senate. harry reid wouldn't bring it, mitch mcconnell -- the president ignores the tidal waves that are coming at us, social and medicare and the numbers get so big, that it's sometimes hard to realize how much of a deficit this year alone of $1.3 trillion is, the president sort of pretends if you raise taxes on some people a small amount and there's other people you could stop all these problems. this is how much this deficit is. i you took all of the money earned by everyone in the country, took it all and then on top of that took all of the gold in ft. knox and sold it.

added all that together, that is less than the deficit in this year's budget alone. that is the severity of what we face. and this budget does not help solve the problem. >> i would just say one thing before we go forward, i think our colleagues would join with me. i would say if the republicans are given the opportunity next year to have a majority from congress, we would use the rule that allows the budget to be passed by 50 votes. 60 votes is required to pass a budget. we will pass a budget. we will have a bicameral budget. we will have a budget that will put us on path of growth and

leadership. >> i'll assume that's right. you know, follow up on this intercessions points. this is not a serious proposal, the president intends to exert no effort to get this budget passed. i thought last week the most telling statement that anybody made is when senator reid said there wouldn't be a senate budget, when asked about that, he said we have no opinion on that. how could the white house have no opinion on whether you even have a real budget discussion on that. you have to have a budget discussion, you have to have a budget debate. at some point you have to have a budget fight in order to get the

priorities of the united states are. when the president was asked if he had a budget, they said we have no opinion on that. we're on the 1,000th day where the absolute commitment of the senate majority is not to have a budget. even though the law requires that we have one every year. simpson bowls commitment says this is the most predictable crisis in the history of mankind and we're going down that path. >> this is a very sad day when the president of the united states fails to keep his promises to the american people

once again and rather than -- we know the president said he would cut the deficit and a half in his first term in president. we know that's not going to happen. and henry reid is the only person that can put the budget on the floor. >> what you would like, but maybe you can put off and things that you would like to have and things that you really can't afford. that kind of disciplinary process, that every family, every small business undertakes in america. henry reid and the president's

own political party have refused to do. i guess the worst part about the debt is not only looking a at the television and seeing what's happening over in greece now and what's happening in europe, but they're unsus tapeable debt. the in fact of the matter is, this $15 trillion debt has kept job creators on the sidelines because they don't know what the taxes are going to be, they don't know what kind of new regulation is going to be promulgated, i they simply don't have any predictability that allows them to plan for the future so they do what an irrational person would do, they sit on the sidelines. that means that unemployment is unacceptably high and the

president is not going to do anything about it. pleadly understand acceptable. >> this budget makes a mockery of the american people and our state has been blessed for decades on both sides of the aisle that have run our state very well. and i know if the governor of our state would put out a budget like this, he would be run out of the state. >> deprive the economy upwards,

focusing on social security and medicaid, which we all know especially in the case of medicare are going to be insolvent and yet there's zero leadership on this issue. i think it's absolutely incumbent on the president for the american president to lay out to the american people what i also think it's incumbent upon whoever the nominee is to do exactly the same thing, maybe not in budget form, but in broad strokes. this is a huge deficit, i'm highly disappointed. we all don't realize that not only is this fiscal issue, the biggest enemy of our country is ourselves and our inability to deal with this. but as senator cornyn mentioned,

they're tied together there's no question that dealing with these issues and having a robust economy are tied together and it's unfortunate for american people who are out there seeking employment that the president has abdicated leadership. >> everyone agrees that we're on an unsustainable, fiscal path, 100% of gdp is our debt level right now and that's increasing sfachtdly over time. another $10 trillion over the top of $16 trillion, everybody knows that's us sustainable. and the president with this budget is