Obama campaign senior adviser David Axelrod accused the Romney campaign on Monday of putting forward an untenable fiscal policy and dismissed charges that the president has been too vague in laying out his own economic vision for the coming years.
During an interview on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” Mr. Axelrod defended the president’s progress toward rebuilding the economy and argued that Mr. Romney has been light on details and is pushing a plan of cuts and increased defense spending without tax increases, which, Mr. Axelrod argued, could worsen the federal budget deficit.
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“We’re not going to cut our way to prosperity; we’re not going to cut our way to more secure entitlement programs like Social Security and Medicare,” he said. “We have to have a balance.”
Mr. Axelrod contended that the correct approach for the country will be to make moderate cuts to spending while raising taxes on the wealthy. Republicans have bristled at any suggestions of raising taxes, but Mr. Axelrod said he thinks the GOP could become more open to compromise if Mr. Obama wins a second term.
He also defended comments by Mr. Obama last week that he “can’t change Washington from the inside,” by arguing that it was a call for civic involvement rather than a resignation by the embattled president.
“We do best at moving change in this country when the American people are fully engaged in the debate,” he said.
