Obama: 'Let's get it done soon'

President Barack Obama repeated his call Saturday for Congress to extend the Bush-era middle-class tax cut without delay, as he and congressional leaders work on a larger agreement to avert a looming fiscal crisis.

“We shouldn’t hold the middle class hostage while Congress debates tax cuts for the wealthy,” Obama said in his weekly address, echoing comments he made Wednesday at his first press conference since Election Day.


“Let’s begin our work by actually doing what we all agree on. Let’s keep taxes low for the middle class. And let’s get it done soon — so we can give families and businesses some good news going into the holiday season,” he said.

Obama met Friday with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, House Speaker John Boehner, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi for “constructive” negotiations — a term Obama used in his Saturday address and that all four congressional leaders used in their post-meeting statements to press gathered outside the White House.

At the meeting, “everyone agreed that while we may have our differences, we need to come together, find solutions and take action as soon as possible,” Obama said.

The election has reinforced for the president a sense that Americans want action on the nation’s fiscal challenges. “[T]hat’s the message I heard loud and clear in the election: Work as hard as you can to make our lives better. And do it together,” he said. “Don’t worry about the politics. Just get the job done.”

Obama said he was “willing to work with anyone of any party to move this country forward.”

“Because soon, we face a very clear deadline that requires us to make some big decisions on jobs and taxes; on investments and deficits. 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.”

In the Republican response, Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.) called for “bipartisan cooperation” to avoid the end of tax cuts, and the start of mandatory spending cuts. “Power sharing is an opportunity — not an obstacle. And getting our fiscal house in order is where we need to start,” she said.

But rather than supporting Obama’s plan to extend the Bush-era tax cut only on income up to $250,000, Ayotte and many other Republicans say the cuts should be extended for all income, and instead favor reforming the Tax Code.

“Tax reform that eliminates wasteful tax preferences to generate revenue will help bring fairness and efficiency to our tax system. This approach makes more sense than raising tax rates — which will harm nearly a million small businesses and cost hundreds of thousands of jobs,” Ayotte said.

This article tagged under: Barack Obama

Weekly Address