A day after Republicans on Capitol Hill released their budget, President Barack Obama said Wednesday that they believe in “trickle-down economics” while he believes in "middle-class economics.”
Obama boasted about the improving U.S. economy, a frequent message of his in recent months.
“I’m also going to take a little credit,” Obama said. “It was the result of decisions my administration made with some [Democratic] members of Congress who are here to prevent a second depression. A lot of those decisions were controversial.”
Obama spoke at the City Club of Cleveland. Members then asked him questions. He also visited a manufacturing incubator in Cleveland that, among other things, houses a bourbon company.
“I did not sample the whiskey [from Cleveland Whiskey] before I came here -- though I am taking a sample home,” he quipped during his speech.
“If President Obama was serious about expanding growth and opportunity, he’d be working with Republicans on areas of common ground,” said Cory Fritz, a spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner, R_Ohio. “Today’s stop in Cleveland was nothing more than a political stunt designed to double down on the same tax and spend policies that have failed middle-class families.”