Obama urges GOP: Tax rich to avert ‘cliff’

Published: Thu, November 15, 2012 @ 12:00 a.m.

Associated Press

WASHINGTON

President Barack Obama challenged congressional Republicans Wednesday to let taxes rise on the wealthiest Americans on both economic and political grounds, noting he campaigned successfully for re-election on the point and contending it would instantly ease the threat of the ?fiscal cliff? plunging the nation back into recession.

?A modest tax increase on the wealthy is not going to break their backs,? Obama said of the nation?s top income earners. ?They?ll still be wealthy,? he said at his first news conference since winning a second term.

At the same time, the president stressed he was amenable to compromise on other approaches from Republicans who say they will refuse to raise tax rates. ?I believe this is solvable,? he said.

At a news conference later, House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, agreed that a bipartisan ?spirit of cooperation? has been evident since the election that augurs well for talks expected to begin Friday at the White House.

However, he said of the president?s proposal, ?We are not going to hurt our economy and make job creation more difficult which is exactly what that plan would do.?

Wall Street wasn?t encouraged. The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 185 points for the day.

Source: http://www.vindy.com/news/2012/nov/15/obama-urges-gop-tax-rich-to-avert-cliff/

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