President Obama outlines deficit-reduction plan

President Barack Obama on Monday outlined a $3-trillion long-term deficit-reduction plan, which relies on raising taxes on the wealthiest Americans.

"This is not class warfare — it's math," Obama said in a statement given from the White House Rose Garden, according to CBS News.

Obama framed his argument as an either/or proposition.

"The money has to come from some place," he said. "If we're not willing to ask those who've done extraordinarily well to help America close the deficit… the math says everybody else has to do a whole lot more, we've got to put the entire burden on the middle class and the poor."

CBS News reports that the plan includes around $1.5 trillion in new taxes. $800 billion comes from repealing Bush-era tax rates for households making over $250,000. The plan includes $580 billion in cuts to mandatory benefit programs, including $248 billion from Medicare. And it would close some corporate tax loopholes and limit certain tax deductions. $1 trillion in savings over 10 years is projected from the withdrawal of troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. Overall, the plan seeks $1 in new revenues for every $2 in cuts.

Obama also pushed for what the White House is calling the "Buffett rule," after billionaire investor Warren Buffett. The rule would make people earning over $1 million a year pay the same overall tax rate as other taxpayers. In August, Buffett wrote an op-ed in The New York Times in which he pointed out that he has the lowest tax rate in his 20-person office, and he urged Congress to "stop coddling" the super-rich.

As he did when he unveiled his jobs bill earlier this month, Obama on Monday urged Congress to act quickly on his deficit plan.

"There shouldn't be any reason for Congress to drag its feet," he said. "I'm ready to sign a bill. I've got the pens all ready."

The Los Angeles Times reports that Republicans reacted quickly to Obama's proposal.

"Veto threats, a massive tax hike, phantom savings and punting on entitlement reform is not a recipe for economic or job growth — it or even meaningful deficit reduction," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said. "The good news is that the joint committee is taking this issue far more seriously than the White House."

"Pitting one group of Americans against another is not leadership," House Speaker John Boehner said. "The joint select committee is engaged in serious work to tackle a serious problem. … Unfortunately, the president has not made a serious contribution to its work today."