David Plouffe: Republicans Want 'More War'

David Plouffe: Republicans Want 'More War'

WASHINGTON -- White House senior adviser David Plouffe drew a stark contrast between Democrats' and Republicans' visions for the country, asserting that the GOP simply wants "huge tax cuts for the wealthy, more war, more debt."

Appearing on ABC's "This Week," Plouffe addressed the Republican criticisms of President Barack Obama's new policy on immigration, which halts deportations for some young undocumented immigrants. Plouffe acknowledged it was not a long-term fix and said the administration would like Congress to pass comprehensive immigration reform, but unfortunately did not believe that it would do so.

"There was a remarkable story this week where members of Congress in the Republican caucus were openly talking about doing nothing on the economy over the next five months because it would help Mitt Romney," Plouffe said. "And so whether it's failing to move forward on the DREAM Act, failing to move forward on putting teachers back to work, failing to do all the things we could do right now to help the economy and middle class, this Congress is just saying no."

He added that Republicans want to "return us back to the same policies that caused the recession, huge tax cuts for the wealthy, more war, more debt."

Host George Stephanopoulos pressed Plouffe on his assertion, asking when Republicans had called for more war.

"Our opponent and many in Congress criticized our decision to end the Iraq war," he replied. "I think Gov. Romney called it a tragic mistake, oppose a timeline in Afghanistan. So -- and, by the way, you know, that also has fiscal and economic consequences, because we have to focus on rebuilding this country. And that's what the president wants to do, is take half the money from ending the wars and focus on rebuilding this country so our businesses can move their products and their services and their goods."

Romney was one of the most hawkish GOP presidential candidates, criticizing Obama's plan for Afghanistan withdrawal as "misguided," even as some other members of his parties were beginning to call for more accelerated process than the one the president had proposed.

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