Obama to Budget Critics: Wow, You're Impatient

Two main themes are emerging from President Obama's news conference this afternoon—he called out Iran over its violent crackdown on protesters and said critics of his budget plan were way too "impatient":

• On Iran: "I find it ironic that you've got the Iranian regime pretending to celebrate what happened in Egypt, when in fact they have acted in direct contrast to what happened in Egypt by gunning down and beating people who were trying to express themselves peacefully in Iran." He said governments throughout the Mideast would not be able to repress the "young, vibrant generation" emerging. The AP has more details.

• His budget: Answering criticism (like this) that his plan failed to tackle the looming problems of Medicare, Social Security, etc, he said, “You guys are pretty impatient. If something doesn’t happen today, then the assumption is it isn’t going to happen.” He disputed the notion that he's abandoning the bipartisan panel he commissioned, which called for cuts in entitlement programs. “The notion that it’s been shelved I think is incorrect,” he said. “It still provides a framework for a conversation.” More details at Politico.

(More President Obama stories.)