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The president used his speech in Cleveland to counter the newly released budgets proposed by House and Senate Republicans. The plans reflect each party’s values and priorities, he said in the midst of a scathing critique of GOP policies. ... While the Senate plan includes fewer details about how to achieve the savings, both chambers have called for making changes in Medicare, repealing the Affordable Care Act, and shifting more responsibility to the states for Medicaid and food stamps to achieve the bulk of the reductions. The White House has said that the proposed changes amount to an attack on the American health-care system. (McCain Nelson, 3/18)

Noting that Republican House Speaker John A. Boehner of Ohio often asks, "Where are the jobs?," Obama told a crowd in Cleveland he was there to "not only answer that question" but also to renew a central debate over the two major parties' economic visions. Obama said that his administration's policies, such as investing in manufacturing and the landmark Affordable Care Act, have helped the nation emerge from a deep recession but that the Republican budget would "double down" on the theory that wealth trickles down from the rich to the rest. (Memoli and Mascaro, 3/18)