Battle of the Budget Plans
By: NBC News
Updated: March 15, 2013
Day three of President Obama's meeting with some of his opponents began with a warm
handshake with Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.
The President later met with House Democrats to try and find a common ground with two parties on the budget battle.
"I think we all felt it was a very good meeting. He was very candid. He certainly understands that you can't fix the country without adjusting entitlements to fit the demographics of our country," said Minority Leader Senator Mitch McConnell (R) Kentucky.
The Democrat-led Senate budget committee today worked on their version of a budget deal cutting trillions of dollars and raising money by ending tax breaks for the wealthy.
Republican Paul Ryan's plan cuts 4.6 trillion dollars over ten years by trimming Medicare and other domestic programs.
"This is going to take more than dinner dates and phone calls. This is going to take President and Sen Democrats rolling up their sleeves and making tough choices about how we solve the nation's problems," said House Speaker Representative John Boehner (R) Ohio.
Democrats in the Senate say the Ryan plan is dead on arrival.
"Paul Ryan's budget is march madness when it comes to seniors....the house Republicans brazen attempt to balance the budget on the backs of seniors is unacceptable," said Senator Dick Durbin (D) Illinois.
The full house vote on the Ryan budget plan is set for next week.
