-Congress Should Pass Law to Prevent Tax Hike on Middle Class Now
-Won’t Agree to Extend Tax Cut for Wealthy at Expense of Middle Class

By Heather Scott

WASHINGTON (MNI) – President Barack Obama urged Congress Wednesday to pass
legislation right away to ensure middle class Americans will not face a tax cut
January 1, so he can then establish a process to negotiate with Hill leaders on
a package to reduce the deficit and debt.

In his first press conference since his reelection last week, Obama
stressed that he will not support extending the Bush-era tax cuts for the
wealthy if the middle class has to make up the difference.

He said Congress should immediately approve a law “that would prevent any
tax hike whatsoever on the first $250,000 of everybody’s income,” which also
would benefit the wealthy and small businesses as well as the middle class.

“Right now our economy is still recovering from a very deep and damaging
crisis so our top priority has to be jobs and growth,” Obama told reporters. “We
face a very clear deadline that requires us to make some decisions on jobs,
taxes and deficits by the end of the year. Both parties voted to set this
deadline and I believe both parties can work together to make these decisions in
a balanced and responsible way.”

Obama warned that failure to act would impact holiday sales immediately and
likely push the U.S. economy into recession, “if there is too much stubbornness
in Congress” to avoid the fiscal cliff, but he said he is confident the issue is
“solvable.”

Noting that he will meet with congressional leaders Friday, following
meetings with labor leaders Tuesday, and corporate CEOs later Wednesday, Obama
said, “There’s only one way to solve these challenges and that is to do it
together.”

He repeated what he said last week, that he is “open to compromise” and
“new ideas,” but stressed several times that he would not back a plan in which
the top 2% of Americans do not face a tax increase. And while he is open to some
reform of loopholes and deductions, that would not achieve enough in new
revenues to compensate.

“I have been encouraged over the past week to hear Republican after
Republican agree on the need for more revenue from the wealthiest Americans as
part of our arithmetic if we’re going to be serious about reducing the deficit,”
Obama said, adding that “it is arithmetic, not calculus.”

He called on Congress to act immediately to give middle class Americans
“certainty” before the holiday season that their taxes will not increase. “We
should not hold the middle class hostage while we debate tax cuts for the
wealthy,” he said.

He said he wants a “big, comprehensive” fiscal deal that will provide
certainty to businesses and consumers, and he knows “we’re going to have to
compromise.”

Obama said he will not “slam the door” on any ideas, and is willing to look
at broader tax reform to make the system more efficient, as well as “take a
serious look” at entitlement reform.

“There is a package that can be shaped by both sides,” he said.

** MNI Washington Bureau: (202) 371-2121 **

–email: hscott@mni-news.com

[TOPICS: M$U$$$,MC$$$$,MFU$$$,MGU$$$]