Dueling Statements from Obama, Boehner
Posted at 9:30 a.m. on Nov. 12, 2012
At the end of last week, President Obama and House Speaker John Bohener (R-OH) gave dueling statements that provided little hints of a potential path forward to avoiding the fiscal cliff.
From Obama’s statement: “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… I’m open to compromise. I’m open to new ideas. I’m committed to solving our fiscal challenges, but I refuse to accept any approach that isn’t balanced… And I just want to point out, this was a central question during the election. It was debated over and over again. And on Tuesday night we found out that the majority of Americans agree with my approach.”
From Boehner’s response: “The year 2013 should be the year we begin to solve our country’s debt problem through entitlement reform and a new tax code with fewer loopholes and lower rates… Republicans are eager to get to work on an agreement that averts the entire fiscal cliff. The House has passed legislation to accomplish this vital goal. We look forward to joining the president next week and working to forge an agreement that will do the same.”
The Associated Press reports that President Obama will meet with labor representatives and progressive groups on Tuesday and with members of the business community on Wednesday to begin building consensus.
