WASHINGTON — President Obama yesterday jammed his campaign machine back into high gear, revving up public pressure on Capitol Hill Republicans to surrender to his demand for higher taxes on the rich.
Obama fired up a crowd of auto workers at a campaign-style rally outside Detroit with calls for the wealthy to “pay a little bit more.”
His campaign organization — running at full speed more than a month after Obama’s re-election victory — shot off an e-mail to supporters asking them to pressure House Republicans.
The voters on Obama’s campaign mailing list were instructed to call House Republicans and voice support for a Democratic bill that would spare just the middle class from the pending tax hikes.
The bill will not get a vote in the GOP-run House unless about 20 Republicans join the Democrats to force it to the floor.
“Let’s get one thing straight: If your taxes go up, Republicans will have made a conscious choice to let that happen. They’ll have missed the opportunity to prevent it, just to cut taxes for the wealthy,” read the e-mail.
Unless Obama and Congress reach a deal by Jan. 1, the United States will sail off the so-called fiscal cliff. That would mean steep tax hikes for nearly every American, and deep spending cuts would automatically take effect.
Republicans were quick to slam Obama over his continued campaign for higher taxes and not enough emphasis on spending cuts.
“You just got re-elected. How about doing something big that is not liberal?” Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said on Fox News.
“Every big idea he has is a liberal idea that drowns us in debt. How about manning up here, Mr. President, and use your mandate to bring this country together to stop us from becoming Greece?”
Staffers for the White House and House Speaker John Boehner yesterday continued closed-door negotiations, following a face-to-face meeting Sunday between Obama and Boehner.
Boehner has proposed $800 billion in new revenue by closing loopholes and deductions for the rich but without increasing rates. Obama wants $1.6 trillion from higher tax rates on the wealthy.
Beyond the tax cuts, the two sides remain at odds over cutting spending on entitlements, such as Medicare, which are the chief cause of skyrocketing federal debt.
Republicans want significant spending reductions.
In Michigan, Obama told workers at a Daimler truck plant that he wouldn’t “compromise” on taxes but would “compromise a little bit” on spending cuts to get a deal. He then advocated more spending.