The Hill News

President Obama on Tuesday defended his budget proposal against critiques from both the left and right and expressed confidence he could strike a deal to address spending areas that impact the nation's long-term debt.

Obama said that his $3.7 trillion budget plan, which cuts $1.1 trillion from the deficit over 10 years, made targeted spending cuts and provides the first step for lawmakers to begin negotiations over reforming the nation's bloated entitlement programs and complex tax system.

{mosads}"This is going to be a process in which each side in both chambers in Congress [sit down] and whittle their differences down and have something that has a chance of passage. And that's my goal. My goal is to get something done," he said at a Tuesday morning press conference in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building. 

"This is not a matter of you go first or I go first. This is a matter of everyone having a conversation of where we want to go ..! . then getting in the boat at the same time so it doesn't tip over," he added.

Republicans in Congress immediately panned Obama's budget when it was released Monday, saying it did not address Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, which are responsible for the majority of the nation's long-term debt.

He also received more muted complaints from Democrats that cuts to community grants, heating oil assistance and some education programs, could hurt the vulnerable. Obama responded that his budget contains cuts to programs he supported, but that he needs to put the government's spending on a more "sustainable" path.

"I understand people's frustration with some of these decisions," he said. "Look, I definitely feel folks pain."

Obama was pressed on why his budget did not adpot the major recommendations of his fiscal commission, which passed a plan last year to reform Social Security and reduce the deficit by $4 trillion over 10 years. H! e said that the plan still provides a framework for debate.

"The notion that it has been shevled, I think is incorrect. It still provides a framework for the conversation," he said.

"You guys are pretty impatient," he told reporters." "[Your attitude is] if it doesn't happen today, it's never going to happen."