64 Senators Urge Obama to Lead on Debt

There’s at least one issue uniting Democrats and Republicans – that President Barack Obama isn’t providing adequate leadership to address the government’s crushing $14 trillion debt burden. A bipartisan group of 64 senators is urging him to engage on efforts to reform entitlements and the tax system to shrink that debt, Politico reports.

The 32 Democrats and 32 Republicans sent Obama a letter reading, “Beyond [fiscal year] 2011 funding decisions, we urge you to engage in a broader discussion about a comprehensive deficit reduction package. Specifically, we hope that the discussion will include discretionary spending cuts, entitlement changes and tax reform.”

The letter’s main authors are Sens. Mike Johanns, R-Neb., and Michael Bennet, D-Colo.

“The ball is very clearly in the president’s court to respond and join with us in that effort,” Johanns said Friday in a news conference. “We need his leadership.”