President Barack Obama will urge the 12-member congressional “supercommittee” to cut more than $1.5 trillion from 10-year spending plans, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said Tuesday.
He will call on the committee “to overshoot its targets … and to do more deficit reduction and debt control,” Carney told reporters during an afternoon press conference.
This prediction by Carney was made as he described elements of the president’s Thursday evening speech to a joint session of Congress.
The 12-member committee was established by the August debt ceiling deal, and is slated to cut more $1.1 trillion from spending plans over the next decade.
During Tuesday’s press conference, Carney repeated earlier statements that the president will urge an extension of the temporary cut in Social Security payroll taxes and urge the creation of a government-backed bank to fund infrastructure programs.
“The package he will put forward will be judged by independent economists to absolutely have a direct and quick impact on the economy and job creation,” Carney said.
The jobs package will subsequently be complemented by additional ideas for spending cuts and for controlling long-term spending and deficits, he said. (RELATED: Obama faces historic lows in poll numbers)
“He will make clear there are ‘payfors’ for the jobs and growth package he is sending forward [which] will be in the context of his broader proposals for broader def reduction and control” that will be proposed later, Carney said.