- otus
- May 15, 2012
AC
Ohio Sen. Rob Portman, who many speculate is on Mitt Romney's vice presidential short list, took a shot at President Barack Obama on Tuesday for what he called a lack of "presidential leadership" during deficit reduction negotiations last year. Portman served on the bipartisan Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction in 2011, which was established to create a plan to reduce the federal government's budget deficit. The so-called "super committee" ultimately failed, and Portman said Tuesday that Obama shares the blame. "It's about presidential leadership, and partly—frankly—it's providing cover to your own party," Portman said at a fiscal summit hosted by the Peter G. Peterson Foundation in Washington, D.C., in response to a question about difficulties coming to an agreement on deficit reduction. "I will say that Democrats needed a little help in terms of the super committee. We didn't have that. In fact, what we had was a veto threat. It wasn't done just...