President Barack Obama is criticizing a $3.8 trillion budget plan put forward by House Republicans, saying it won't invest in "all the things that we need to grow."
Obama is taking that message to Cleveland on Wednesday, in the all-important presidential battleground state of Ohio, to draw contrasts with Republicans over federal spending.
In brief comments Tuesday at the White House, Obama said the House GOP plan fails to invest in education, infrastructure, research and national security, and promised a "robust debate" over how taxpayer dollars should be spent. Obama was opening the debate with remarks at the City Club of Cleveland, before answering questions from members of the audience.
"It's not a budget that reflects the future. It's not a budget that reflects growth," Obama said during a St. Patrick's Day appearance with Ireland's prime minister.
"It's not a budget that is going to help ensure that middle-class families are able to maintain security and stability and that people who are trying to get into the middle class will have the rungs on the ladder to get into the middle class," he added.
The House Republican plan would favor the Pentagon and partially privatize Medicare and slash other social programs to help eliminate deficits at the end of a decade.
Senate Republicans
Senate Republicans were outlining their budget plan on Wednesday.
Lawmakers have set aside a $4 trillion budget plan that Obama delivered to Congress last month.
Obama's plan would target corporate profits overseas, raise taxes on the wealthy and boost tax credits for families and the working poor.
It also would spend billions of dollars to repair roads and bridges, cover the cost of community college for eligible students and reverse across-the-board, automatic budget cuts that have bitten deeply into the Pentagon and nearly every department in government.
Cory Fritz, a spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, countered that Republicans offered a responsible, balanced-budget plan, in contrast to what Obama sent up to Capitol Hill.
In Cleveland, Obama will also draw attention to administration efforts to boost American manufacturing, a crucial part of the economy in northeastern Ohio, by announcing a nearly $500 million public-private investment to aid the industry, the White House said.
The first of several manufacturing hubs the administration has created is in Youngstown, Ohio.
Obama also planned to tour a center that helps northeast Ohio manufacturers grow their businesses.
