Republicans slam Obama 'tax and spend' budget Republican leaders denounced President Barack Obama's $3.8 trillion spending plan for 2013 Monday as a "tax and spend" budget that keeps the United States on a course of unsustainable deficits. "Instead of an America built to last this is an America drowning in debt," said Representative Paul Ryan, chairman of the House Budget Committee. "All we're getting here is more spending, more borrowing, and more debt which will lead to slower economic growth," he said in a conference call with reporters as the White House prepared to release details of the president's proposal. Ryan called the White House plan, which emphasizes tax hikes on the rich and spending to spur employment, "a political plan for the president's re-election campaign." Senator Jeff Sessions, the ranking Republican on the Senate Budget Committee, disputed the administration's claim that the proposal would result in $4 trillion in deficit reductions by 2018, insisting deficits would remain "virtually identical to the path we are on." This budget increases spending and increasing taxes significantly. It is a tax and spend budget," he said. "This nation is on an unsustainable debt course," he said. This budget lulls the American people into the belief their concerns are being taken care of. Ryan also accused Obama of failing to deal with the debt crisis, turning in four years of trillion dollar deficits. The most predictable crisis facing our country is a debt crisis, a fiscal crisis, and again the president has ducked responsibility. He has punted," he said.