Meanwhile, the Democrats have largely avoided taking a serious approach to entitlement reform and balancing the budget.

FORBES: Paul Ryan's Budget Plan Is A Start -- But Only A Start

Democrats generally do not like and do not support cuts in entitlement programs, and yet this President put forward difficult reforms in entitlement programs because he believes that you have to have a balanced approach, you have to include entitlement reform in any effort to reduce our deficit and bring down our -- reduce our debt.

WHITEHOUSE: Press Briefing

The President insists that a substantial agreement that involves substantial deficit reduction has to include all the things that drive our deficits and debt, and that has a balanced approach that includes cuts in entitlement spending as well as cuts in discretionary spending as well as cuts in defense spending as well as cuts in tax code spending.

WHITEHOUSE: Press Briefing

That's a pretty reasonable, middle-of-the-road, common-sense approach to both tax reform and entitlement reform.

WHITEHOUSE: Press Briefings

And so I will continue to seek out partners on the other side of the aisle so that we can create the kind of balanced approach of spending cuts, revenues, entitlement reform that everybody knows is the right way to do things.

WHITEHOUSE: Remarks by the President Before a Cabinet Meeting

Or is it going to be a balanced approach that includes modest reforms to strengthen entitlement programs and changes in our tax code -- tax reform that simplifies it, and ends preferences for the oil and gas industries, for example, or corporate jet makers, or hedge fund managers who -- billionaires who pay lower rates of taxes than their secretaries?

WHITEHOUSE: Press Briefing

And that balanced approach has to include revenues as well as entitlement reforms.

WHITEHOUSE: Press Briefing

And the fact is, you need a balanced approach that achieves a level of revenues, that achieves additional entitlement savings, that achieves reductions in spending.

WHITEHOUSE: Press Briefing

The president previously said that once Republicans agreed to higher tax rates on wealthy Americans, he would be willing to compromise on spending cuts and entitlement reforms sought by Boehner as part of what the president calls a balanced approach.

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By a corollary, is it also not a balanced approach to have a budget that increases taxes on the wealthy but does not reduce entitlement benefits?

WHITEHOUSE: Press Briefing