Romney Campaign Press Release - Vice President Biden's Spring Break from Reality

"President Obama entered office promising to reform our entitlement programs and cut the deficit in half. He failed miserably on both counts. After three years of trillion-dollar deficits and a historic increase in the national debt, we need a new president — not four more years of broken promises and empty rhetoric." —Andrea Saul, Romney Campaign Spokesperson

Today In Florida, Vice President Biden Will Deliver A Campaign Speech On Spending And Entitlement Programs:

Vice President Joe Biden Will Travel To Florida To Deliver Campaign Remarks On Spending And Entitlements. "SNEAK PEEK — BIDEN CAMPAIGNING ON MEDICARE IN FLORIDA TODAY: The vice president will focus on seniors with a speech at Wynmoor Village in Coconut Creek, Florida, today. Talking about Medicare, he'll attack Paul Ryan's budget and frame it as a key part of the general election contrast." (James Hohmann, Politico's "Morning Score," 3/23/12)

Candidate Obama Promised To Reform Entitlement Programs In His First Term, But Failed To Offer Any "Meaningful Reforms In Entitlements" Or Get Spending Under Control:

Candidate Obama, In 2008: "We're Going To Have To Take On Entitlements And I Think We've Got To Do It Quickly. ... I'd Like To Do It In My First Term As President." NBC's TOM BROKAW: "Would you give Congress a date certain to reform Social Security and Medicare within two years after you take office? Because in a bipartisan way, everyone agrees, that's a big ticking time bomb that will eat us up maybe even more than the mortgage crisis." OBAMA: "Well, Tom, we're going to have to take on entitlements and I think we've got to do it quickly. We're going to have a lot of work to do, so I can't guarantee that we're going to do it in the next two years, but I'd like to do it in my first term as president." (Sen. Barack Obama, Remarks At Presidential Debate, Nashville, TN, 10/7/08)

President-Elect Obama On Entitlements: "What We Have Done Is Kicked This Can Down The Road. We're Now At The End Of The Road. And We Are Not In A Position To Kick It Any Further."  OBAMA: "So we're going to have to craft what George Stephanopoulos called a grand bargain.  I try not to use the word grand in anything that I say, but we're going to have to shape a bargain. This, by the way, is where there are going to be some very difficult choices, and issues of sacrifice and responsibility and duty are going to come in, because what we have done is kicked this can down the road.  We're now at the end of the road. And we are not in a position to kick it any further." (President-Elect Barack Obama, Remarks To The Washington Post Editorial Board, 1/15/09)

President Obama's Recently-Unveiled Budget Does Nothing To Address America's Fiscally Unsustainable Entitlement Programs. "'Medicare is going bankrupt ... The president's health care law takes the $500 billion from Medicare to spend on Obamacare,' said House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan. With the help of Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, Ryan is offering an alternative plan that he says reduces the speed of Medicare spending growth. ... 'Unfortunately, the president and his party leaders, they're not a part of this conversation. And that to me is very disappointing.'" ("President Obama's Budget Meets Early GOP Skepticism," Fox News, 2/12/12)

The President's Plans Are "Unlikely To Result In A Genuine Effort To Address The $15 Trillion National Debt Or The Entrenched Deficits That Keep Piling On To It." "The White House is focusing on re-election themes such as jobs and public works projects in President Barack Obama's new budget blueprint while relying on familiar but never enacted tax increases on the wealthy and corporations to reduce future deficits after four years of trillion dollar-plus shortfalls. ... It's unlikely to result in a genuine effort to address the $15 trillion national debt or the entrenched deficits that keep piling on to it." (Andrew Taylor, "Obama Budget: New Spending With Recycled Tax Ideas," The Associated Press, 2/11/12)

President Obama Has Failed To Propose "Meaningful Reforms In Entitlements." "His budget also proposes no meaningful reforms in entitlements, which are the fastest growing part of the budget and will grow even faster once ObamaCare really kicks in." (Editorial, "The Amazing Obama Budget," The Wall Street Journal, 2/14/12)

The Washington Post: "The Final Budget Of His First Term Does Not Reflect The Leadership On Issues Of Debt And Deficit That Mr. Obama Once Vowed." (Editorial, "Obama's Budget Falls Short, But It Beats Many Alternatives," The Washington Post, 2/13/12)

President Obama Promised To Cut The Deficit In Half By The End Of His First Term, But His Latest Budget Reveals A Fourth Straight Year Of Trillion-Dollar Deficits:

President Obama, In 2009: "Today I'm Pledging To Cut The Deficit We Inherited In Half By The End Of My First Term In Office." OBAMA: "[T]oday I'm pledging to cut the deficit we inherited in half by the end of my first term in office. This will not be easy. It will require us to make difficult decisions and face challenges we've long neglected. But I refuse to leave our children with a debt that they cannot repay — and that means taking responsibility right now, in this administration, for getting our spending under control." (President Barack Obama, Remarks, 2/23/09)

President Obama's Latest Budget Breaks His Pledge And "Does Not Come Close" To Cutting The Deficit In Half. "The 2013 budget the president submitted today does not come close to meeting this promise of being reduced to $650 billion for fiscal year 2013. The president noted in that 2009 speech the Obama administration inherited a $1.3 trillion deficit. The deficit was similarly $1.3 trillion in 2011, is projected to be $1.15 trillion in 2012, and the president's budget claims it will be $901 billion in 2013." (Jack Tapper, "Obama's Broken Deficit Promise," ABC News, 2/13/12)

"Obama's Budget Projects That The Deficit For The Current Year Will Total $1.33 Trillion, The Fourth Straight Year Of Deficits Over $1 Trillion." ("Highlights Of Obama's $3.8 Trillion Budget," The Associated Press, 2/13/12)

In Less Than Four Years, President Obama Has Added Nearly $5 Trillion In New Debt. "The National Debt has now increased more during President Obama's three years and two months in office than it did during 8 years of the George W. Bush presidency. The Debt rose $4.899 trillion during the two terms of the Bush presidency. It has now gone up $4.939 trillion since President Obama took office." (Mark Knoller, "National Debt Has Increased More Under Obama Than Under Bush," CBS News, 3/19/12)

Under President Obama, The National Debt Has Exceeded $15.5 Trillion And Continues To Climb. (U.S. Treasury Department Website, treasurydirect.gov, Accessed 3/23/12)