Response to President Obama's Speech on Deficit Reduction

After a meeting with leaders of both parties in Congress today, President Obama made a speech at George Washington University. He called for reducing the deficit by $4 trillion over the next 12 years. The President called on Congress to enact what he called a "Debt Failsafe," to trigger spending reductions across the board. National Journal's Michael Hirsh is author of Capital Offense: How Washington's Wise Men Turned America's Future over to Wall Street. Robert Samuelson, columnist for Newsweek and the Washington Post, is author of The Great Inflation and Its Aftermath: the Past and Future of American Affluence.