President Obama suggested that Republican proposals to cut spending would hurt the economy and reveal the hypocrisy of lawmakers who care more about military spending than children in poverty.

“The government is a big part of this economy,” Obama told reporters today. “Some of the same folks who say we’ve got to cut spending or complain that government jobs dont do anything, when it comes to that defense contractor in their distrtict, they think this is a pretty important part of the economy in my district. Let’s just cut spending on those other folks.”

The president said that Republicans aren’t just trying to cut the deficit. “They have a particular visions about what government should an should not do,” he said, per a rush transcription. “So, they have suspicions about Social Security. They have suspicions about whether government should be making sure if kids in poverty are getting enough to eat.”

Obama also indicated he wants more stimulus spending. “The fact is though we cant finish the job of deficit reduction through spending cuts alone,” he said.  “We’ve got to do more both to stabilize our finances over the medium and the long term but also to spur growth in the short term.”