As with most presidential interviews these days, the White House website is missing the transcript of an interview with George Stephanopoulos of ABC:
And, so– you know, my goal is not to chase– a balanced budget just for the sake of balance. My goal is how do we grow the economy, put people back to work, and if we do that we’re gonna be bringin’ in more revenue. If we’ve controlled spending and we’ve got a smart entitlement package, then potentially what you have is balance. But it’s not balance on the backs of, you know, the poor, the elderly, students who need student loans, families who’ve got disabled kids. That’s not the right way to balance–The president has frequently mentioned people on whose backs he does not want to balance the budget.
- "That's why I think it would be such a huge mistake to balance the budget on the backs of students, by cutting scholarships by as much as $1,000, forcing students to go without them altogether." -- April 19, 2011
- "We can't balance the budget on the backs of the very people who have borne the biggest brunt of this recession." -- August 2, 2011
- "But I want to be absolutely clear: We cannot, we must not, we will not balance the budget on the backs of our veterans." -- August 30, 2011
- "We didn't shortchange essential investments or balance the budget on the backs of the middle class or the poor. " -- September 21, 2011
- "But I'm not going to balance the budget on the backs of the poor or the disabled or the vulnerable or ask middle class families to pay higher taxes to pay for a tax cut for me or Mr. Romney." -- July 5, 2012
- "But you know what, we are not just going to cut and balance the budget on the backs of middle class families, asking them to pay more taxes, asking them to suddenly not get help when it comes to sending their kids to college." -- July 6, 2012
- "Because I believe the American people understand, I believe the American people understand that yes, we need to reduce the deficit, but it shouldn't just be on the backs of seniors; it shouldn't just be on the backs of young people who are trying to get a college education; it should not just be on the backs of parents who are trying to give their kids a better start in life..." -- February 7, 2013
