After a resounding victory in Tuesday's election, President Obama is spending some of his political capital, standing his ground on one of his most notable campaign promises.
"If we're serious about reducing the deficit, we have to combine spending cuts with revenue -and that means asking the wealthiest Americans to pay a little more in taxes," said Obama in his first weekly address since the election.
"I will not ask students or seniors or middle-class families to pay down the entire deficit while people making over $250,000 aren't asked to pay a dime more in taxes," he continued.
One of the key differences between the economic plans of Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney was their tax plans. Obama wants to repeal the Bush-era tax cuts on high-income taxpayers, while Romney wanted to cut taxes across the board, regardless of income.
Even with Romney out of the picture, Obama may still not get his way, as congressional Republicans were just as obstinate over the issue last year, leading to the compromise now known as the "fiscal cliff," a year-end deadline that sees all tax rates rise and slashes spending indiscriminately on nearly all government programs, including education and the military, unless the two parties can come to some kind of budgetary agreement.
But Republican House Speaker John Boehner, who has been somewhat conciliatory since the election, seems to be digging in his heels when it come to raising taxes on upper-income Americans.
"Here's the problem with that," said Boehner. "Raising those rates on January 1 would, according to the independent firm Ernst & Young, destroy 700,000 American jobs. That's because many of those hit by this tax increase are small business owners - the very people who are the key to job creation in America. I used to be one of them."
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