Obama urges compromise in weekly address
President Obama, gearing up for his “fiscal cliff” showdown with Congress, said Saturday that this week’s election results prove that voters will not tolerate “politicians who see compromise as a dirty word.”
Echoing the tone of his Friday remarks from the White House, Obama said in his weekly radio address he was open to “compromise and new ideas” in preventing automatic tax increases, set to kick in at the end of the year.
But, he added, his reelection victory proved that the majority of Americans — “includ[ing] Democrats, independents, and Republicans” — agree with his proposal of raising taxes on income of more than $250,000.
Obama will meet with congressional leaders of both parties at the White House next week; he said in the radio address he also intends to seek counsel from business, labor and civic leaders.
House Speaker John A. Boehner of Ohio struck a note of cooperation as well in the weekly Republican address, which also aired Saturday.
“If there was a mandate in this election, it was a mandate to work together to do what’s in the best interest of our country,” Boehner said.
But he sounded less amenable to higher tax rates, which he said would harm small business owners.
Instead, he proposed revamping the tax code to lower rates and close loopholes, as well as reforming entitlement programs.
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