President Obama is beginning a push to sway the public over the impending fiscal cliff. He is meeting with small business owners and traveling to tout his "balanced approach" to fixing the deficit--a mixture of increased taxes on Americans making over $250,000 combined with spending cuts.
Progressive groups have been lobbying to White House to take cuts to social programs like Social Security and Medicare off the table in the fiscal cliff negotiations with Republicans, I favor of tax hikes on the wealthy and cuts in defense spending.
Fiscal conservatives, meanwhile, want to avoid any tax hikes, preferring spending cuts focused on social safety net programs, food stamps, and education.
The president's public relations push continues all week.
Obama's meeting on Tuesday involves talks with several small business owners from around the country: the founder of an airplane crop-duster manufacturer from Texas, a music store owner from St. Louis and a local beer brewer from Wisconsin.
On Wednesday, Obama will meet with middle-class Americans who posted on the White House website to express their worries about the fiscal cliff and its effect on their tax rates.
And on Friday he'll head to Hatfield, Pa., to tour and give a speech at a family-owned toy factory that is the sole American manufacturer for Tinkertoy and K'NEX building blocks.
In his opening salvo with Republicans the week after his reelection, Obama presented a plan that would close the deficit by generating $1.6 billion in new revenue by raising taxes on wealthier Americans. Republicans have not officially presented a counteroffer, but signals have been mixed.
While House Speaker John Boehner has said he and other Republicans are willing to compromise, they want to raise revenue by closing tax loopholes and eliminating deductions, changes that would severely impact middle-income Americans who depend on tax breaks like the mortgage interest deduction.
Obama's plan would not only raise rates on income over $250,000 a year but would also increase the capital gains tax and the inheritance tax, which would only affect Americans who get most of their income from stocks and interest rather than wages, and families with large estates.
However, Obama has both time and public opinion on his side. Recent polls show a majority of Americans would blame the Republicans if the country does go over the fiscal cliff in January.
Republicans have little to bargain with, as the automatic cuts mandated by the fiscal cliff would raise taxes on every American who pays federal income taxes, as well as slash defense spending.
For now, Republicans are publically standing their ground, but a behind-the-scenes compromise seems likely in the next few weeks, with neither party getting exactly what they want.