U.S. President Barack Obama speaks during a meeting with Erskine Bowles and Alan Simpson, co-chairs of the Fiscal Commission, at the White House in Washington April 14, 2011. REUTERS/Kevin LamarqueReuters – President Barack Obama said on Thursday a Republican debt-reduction plan would create “a nation of potholes” as he used the first events of his 2012 re-election bid to strike a sharp contrast with his opponents.