mr. plouffe. how much responsibility do republicans take for this spectacle of a near shutdown of the government, and shouldn't you all be embarrassed? >> well, we're here because the democrats didn't pass a budget last year. for the first time since 1974, the house didn't even bother trying to pass a budget last year, so that's why we're here. now, i feel like we had a pretty good outcome. we represented one-third of the negotiators, but we got two-thirds of the spending cuts we were asking for. this is really still a drop in the bucket. we want to move from talking about saving billions to saving trillions of dollars. >> and that's what's in the substance of your budget. >> budget, right. >> what about the debt ceiling fight? front page of the papers this morning, that's the next big fight ahead. you heard senator hitchson says that's going to be armageddon. what has to happen to say we can raise the debt ceiling? >> well, i'm pleased with what mr. plouffe said. he's saying things can go as a pa

mr. plouffe, thank you. thank you for coming in. pleasure to talk with you, sir. up next, house majority leader eric cantor with the g.o.p. perspective on all of this and the big deal that kept the government running. i do a lot of different kinds of exercise, but basically, i'm a runner. last year. (oof). i had a bum knee that needed surgery. but it got complicated, because i had an old injury. so i wanted a doctor who had done this before. and unitedhealthcare's database helped me find a surgeon. you know you can't have great legs, if you don't have good knees. we're 78,000 people looking out for 70 million americans. that's health in numbers. unitedhealthcare. ♪ ♪ [ male announcer with amazing innovation, driven by relentless competition, wireless puts the world at your command. ♪ [ male announcer how could a luminous protein in jellyfish, impact life expectancy in the u.s., real estate in hong kong, and the optics industry in germany? at t. rowe price, we understand the connections of a complex global economy. it's just one reason over 80% of our mutual funds

mr. plouffe? why didn't the president get involved much earlier and really fight for what democrats believe in? >> well, first of all, the president, as i said in his budget for next year, laid out with great specificity how we're going to reduce the deficit over a trillion dollars over the next decade, bring spending down to the lowest level since dwight eisenhower, at the same time protecting critical investments in things like education, and research and development. so the president has. sometimes here in washington, when people accuse you of not having leadership, what they mean is you're not leading a political fight and the president's view, the country needs leadership, it's focused on where do we find common ground so we can win the future and continue to move the economy forward. not to look at every issue. first through the prism of how do we get political advantage to the other party? the american people are sick and tired of that. >> talking about that, many of these big issues, wheth

mr. plouffe, those rich democrats can write a check to the i.r.s.and make a payment on their tax returns to pay down the federal debt. the option is right there at the bottom of their tax return. this might be a good talking point. i am sure it has polled really well. but i have yet to hear the economic or fiscal rationale on raising taxes on small businesses and families. it is certainly not deficit reduction. raising taxes may be politically necessary for democrats, but it will do little to reduce the deficits and debt that are at their root spending problems. an article from the tax policy center shows just how delusional it is to try and balance the budget through tax increases. in an article titled "desperately seeking revenue," the authors laid out what types of tax increases would be necessary absent spending changes to reduce federal deficits at 2% of g.d.p. for the 2015-2019 period. this is a remarkable article. its authors concluded tax increases consistent with the president's campaign pledge not to raise taxes on individuals making less

deficit-reduction plan for the next several years without giving specifics:00 senior's advisor david plouffe indicate mrs. obama will try to end bush- era tax cuts for wealthy americans and seek medicare and medicaid cuts. >> as he said, you can take a machete to the budget or take a scalpel and make smart decisions to make sure we preserve the ability to invest. while still reducing the deficit. >> reporter: obama's address comes as the debate in washington shifts from this year raze budget to next year and bound a. the top of the week, congressional aides will finalize the down-to-the-wire spending deal struck friday night. >> this agreement on behalf of all-americans is on a budget that invests in our future, while making the largest annual spending cut in our history. >> next up is the fight over the election-year 2012 budget. congress must also decide whether to raise the debt ceiling, which left undone, would put the us government into default. many gop lawmakers are either against doing so or have signaled concessions on core issues will be necessary to raise the debt ceiling. >> thredon't want to