Confronted about President Obama’s $1 million golf trip, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney attacked Republicans rather than promise that the president will cut back on “lavish vacations” paid for by taxpayers.

“How does the president justify lavish vacations and a golf trip to Florida at taxpayer expense and does he plan to cut back on his travel?” a reporter from Colorado asked after noting the high unemployment rate among minorities and the furloughs that federal employees face under sequester.

“I can tell you that this president is focused every day on policies that create economic growth and help advance job creation,” Carney replied. “We certainly do not need to embrace economic policies that shift the entire burden of deficit reduction on senior citizens, middle class families, and Medicare recipients.”

Carney and the reporter went back and forth about the significance of such programs to minorities until a member of the White House press corps intervened to ask a question about Republican opposition to additional tax increases.