GOP says Obama not serious on deficit

WASHINGTON, Feb. 12 (UPI) -- U.S. President Barack Obama's debt reduction strategy is "totally inadequate," Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, said in the Republican media address Saturday.

Two days before Obama is set to release a proposed federal budget, Hatch said the president's record pointed to more, rather than less expenditures.

"The president's proposal for a freeze in government spending might give the White House a nice talking point, but it is a totally inadequate solution to our nation's spending problems," Hatch said.

In recent weeks, Obama has said he wants to lock domestic spending in part by capping salaries of federal employees and vetoing so-called pork barrel bills with unrelated projects tacked onto bills for local initiatives.

Hatch said November's midterm elections that saw a swing to Republicans in Congress indicated public frustration with Obama's promises, The Hill newspaper said.

"Over the past two years, the administration increased discretionary spending by 24 percent," Hatch said. "Will he (Obama) listen to the people, reduce the size of government, and get our spiraling spending and debt under control, or will he become the guardian of an unsustainable status quo?"