Obama attacks GOP budget on Medicare changes, entitlement spending cuts

In what has been described as a searing speech, President Barack Obama charged that the GOP budget would end Medicare "as we know it," and included GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney in his criticisms.

USA Today's The Oval: Obama Blasts Ryan, Romney, Republican Budget
President Obama issued a scathing attack on Mitt Romney and House Republicans today, saying they support a budget that is "a prescription for decline" and would gut such essential programs as Medicare (Jackson, 4/3).

The Hill's Healthwatch: Obama Sticks With Charge That Ryan Plan Would 'End Medicare'
President Obama made clear Tuesday that he's not about to soften his criticism of Republicans' Medicare proposals, charging again that the GOP plan would "end Medicare as we know it." ... He said Ryan's proposal would shift costs to seniors and that its subsidies would not keep pace with rising healthcare costs. Obama warned of "cherry-picking," saying private plans would peel off the healthiest seniors, making traditional Medicare more expensive and less competitive (Baker, 4/3).

Fox News: On Primary Day, Obama Lambastes GOP Budget Plan As 'Trojan Horse'
"The Republicans in Congress have doubled down," the president said in a 37-minute speech during an annual Associated Press luncheon at the Washington Marriott Wardman Park hotel. "Their new budget makes (their) Contract with America look like the New Deal" (4/3). 

Politico: Obama Attacks, Mocks Romney And Ryan Budget
President Barack Obama jumped fully into the 2012 race Tuesday, naming his likely Republican challenger, Mitt Romney, for the first time in an official presidential speech that accused the Republican establishment of embracing polices that threaten the middle class and basic economic fairness. ... Democrats have almost uniformly lined up against the Ryan plan, saying it would gut Medicare, student loan aid and medical research while handing generous tax breaks to the wealthy (Budoff Brown, 4/3).

Bloomberg/San Franciso Chronicle: Obama Criticizes Romney's Support of 'Radical' Republican Budget
President Barack Obama criticized Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney by name and mocked the former Massachusetts governor for describing as "marvelous" the U.S. House-passed budget that overhauls Medicare and cuts domestic programs while lowering taxes for high earners (Runningen and Nichols, 4/3).

CBS News Hotsheet: Obama: GOP Budget A "Trojan Horse"
The GOP budget plan, which Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan unveiled late last month, passed through the House of Representatives last week without a single Democratic vote. The legislation, which calls for steep spending limits and dramatic changes to Medicare, has almost no chance of passing through the Democratic-controlled Senate, but it has swiftly set up an ideological battle between the left and the right over budget priorities as the 2012 election nears. Mr. Obama said the idea that the GOP budget plan would effectively reduce the deficit was "laughable" (Madison, 4/3). 

The Hill: Obama Attacks Ryan Budget As Effort To 'Impose A Radical Vision'
The Ryan budget ...  aims to cut $5 trillion more than Obama's 2013 budget proposal and would create a "premium support" option for future Medicare recipients (Parnes, 4/3).

CNN: Obama Attacks GOP Budget Proposal
According to the administration officials, voters are likely to oppose the Ryan plan because it includes cuts to popular entitlement programs (Cohen, 4/3).