The Hill News

President Obama's would-be Republican opponents in 2012 panned his speech on fiscal discipline following its delivery on Wednesday.

The president's long-anticipated speech outlining his views on how to address the deficit and long-term debt failed to win over the candidates vying to win the presidency in 2012, who derided it as delayed and insufficient.

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney said the proposals in Obama's speech were "too little, too late."

"Instead of supporting spending cuts that lead to real deficit reduction and true reform of Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security, the President dug deep into his liberal playbook for ‘solutions’ highlighted by higher taxes," he said. "With over 20 million people who are unemployed or who have stopped looking for work, the last thing we should be doing is raising taxes on job-creators, entrepreneurs, and small-business owners across America.”

The speech was Obama's fir! st major address since announcing his own reelection campaign last week.

And the address wasn't devoid of politics, either. He took a shot at the Republican presidential field for having voiced support for Rep. Paul Ryan's (R-Wis.) 2012 budget, a plan which the president took to task in his speech.

"One vision has been championed by Republicans in the House of Representatives and embraced by several of their party’s presidential candidates," Obama said of Ryan's budget, all at once looking to unfavorably frame the budget committee chairman's proposals and tie the GOP presidential candidates to it.

Those Republicans didn't take the speech lying down, though.

Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty said that the president's speech was "nothing more than window dressing" and showed his "lack of seriousness on deficit reduction." Pawlenty additionally encouraged Republicans to reject the budget agreement Obama reached with congressio! nal leaders last week.

Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbo! ur said on Twitter that the president's proposal would hurt job creation while unemployment sits just below 9 percent.

"President Obama doesn't get it: The fear of higher taxes tomorrow hurts job creation today," he said on Twitter.