A spokesman reiterated on Thursday that President Obama would veto legislation that would block year-end tax increases and spending cuts if Republican’s don’t agree to raise taxes on the wealthiest Americans.
White House press secretary Jay Carney underscored the president’s position after a report in The Washington Post. “The president has long made clear that he will veto an extension of tax cuts for the top 2 percent of wealthiest Americans.”
Obama’s veto threat challenges Republicans who will working in the upcoming lame-duck session to avert the so-called fiscal cliff. Republican aides told the Post that they would press the president to give up his request for a tax increase in exchange for cleaning up loopholes in the tax code.
“If there is concern about what we can do right now to address the so-called fiscal cliff, the House ought to follow the Senate and pass the extension of tax cuts for 98 percent of the American people,” Carney said. He repeated that the president favors a “balanced” approach to solving the nation’s fiscal challenges.
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