[h=3]By PETER NICHOLAS[/h]WASHINGTON—President Barack Obama sought to increase pressure on Congressional Republicans by attempting to hold them responsible if talks to prevent the so-called fiscal cliff collapse.
Mr. Obama, in an appearance on NBC's "Meet the Press," which was taped Saturday, cast himself as a reasonable broker prepared to make concessions, while depicting GOP leaders as unwilling to let taxes rise on the wealthiest Americans. Many in the GOP make the opposite case, blaming the budget impasse on Democrats, who are blocking any change to the nation's costly entitlement programs.
Getty ImagesPresident Barack Obama said he was 'modestly optimistic' while making a statement on fiscal-cliff negotiations following a meeting with Congressional leaders at the White House on Friday.
The president sounded uncertain whether Congress would pass legislation by year's end that would prevent the mix of across-the-board tax increases and spending cuts that economists fear would plunge the nation back into recession.
Mr. Obama, who gave the interview at the White House on Saturday, said that while he was "modestly optimistic" the day before coming out of a meeting with legislative leaders, "we don't yet see an agreement," according to a transcript released by the network.
The White House sees the president's bully pulpit as a point of leverage over Republicans. In closed-door meetings, Mr. Obama has said he would use his inaugural address and State of the Union speech to lay blame in the event the nation goes over the fiscal cliff.
Legislative leaders have been working through the weekend to come up with a deal that would end the stalemate. If they have a breakthrough, the Senate could vote on a proposal in a rare Sunday session. Should negotiations falter before Jan. 1, the lower income-tax rates that had been ushered in by George W. Bush will expire and be replaced by higher rates that were in place when Bill Clinton was in office. Weeks of postelection negotiations have thus far proved fruitless.
In the interview, the president rejected the idea that both sides are equally at fault. He said that Republicans "have had trouble saying yes to a number of repeated offers."
Mr. Obama has long called for preserving the Bush-era tax cuts for those earning up to $250,000. But in the flurry of offers and counteroffers, he has signaled a willingness to raise the threshold.
The president voiced frustration that lawmakers have pushed the limit of another deadline. He said that one of his core positions in the debate over the fiscal cliff should be acceptable to Republicans: keeping the lower tax rates in place for 98% of Americans.
Mr. Obama told host David Gregory that "the only thing I would caution against…is I think this notion of, 'Well, both sides are just kind of unwilling to cooperate.' And that's just not true. I mean if you look at the facts, what you have is a situation here where the Democratic Party, warts and all, and certain me, warts and all, have consistently done our best to try to put country first."
That the standoff persists, he said, "is an indication of how far certain factions inside the Republican Party have gone where they can't even accept what used to be considered centrist, mainstream positions on these issues."
Singling out the two GOP legislative leaders, House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio and Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the president added that "Congress has not been able to get this stuff done." The reason, he said, is "not because Democrats in Congress don't want to go ahead and cooperate, but because I think it's been very hard for Speaker Boehner and Republican leader McConnell to accept the fact that taxes on the wealthiest Americans should go up a little bit, as part of an overall deficit reduction package."
The president made clear he retains some leverage in the fight. If the nation goes over the fiscal cliff this week and taxes go up, he said he would immediately put forward a bill that would reduce rates for "middle-class families"—daring Republicans to vote down such a measure.
"So one way or another, we'll get through this," he said. "Do I wish that things were more orderly in Washington and rational and people listened to the best arguments and compromised and operated in a more thoughtful and organized fashion? Absolutely. But when you look at history, that's been the exception rather than the norm."
On other matters, the president said that tougher gun-control laws in the wake of the massacre in Newtown, Conn., will require widespread public support. He dismissed the idea that he could push through new restrictions by dint of his own "political capital." Invoking Abraham Lincoln, he said that "with public opinion there's nothing you can't do and without public opinion there's very little you can get done in this town."
Mr. Obama also said he would introduce a bill overhauling the nation's immigration laws in 2013—the first year of his second term. As far back as the 2008 campaign, Mr. Obama said he wanted to create a path to citizenship for people living in the U.S. illegally. But he was unable to develop a legislative consensus behind the effort and put it off.
An update of the nation's immigration laws is particularly important to Latinos, who solidly backed the president in his successful re-election bid. "I think we have talked about it long enough," Mr. Obama said. "We know how we can fix it. We can do it in a comprehensive way that the American people will support."
Write to Peter Nicholas at [email protected]
Mr. Obama, in an appearance on NBC's "Meet the Press," which was taped Saturday, cast himself as a reasonable broker prepared to make concessions, while depicting GOP leaders as unwilling to let taxes rise on the wealthiest Americans. Many in the GOP make the opposite case, blaming the budget impasse on Democrats, who are blocking any change to the nation's costly entitlement programs.
Getty ImagesPresident Barack Obama said he was 'modestly optimistic' while making a statement on fiscal-cliff negotiations following a meeting with Congressional leaders at the White House on Friday.
The president sounded uncertain whether Congress would pass legislation by year's end that would prevent the mix of across-the-board tax increases and spending cuts that economists fear would plunge the nation back into recession.
Mr. Obama, who gave the interview at the White House on Saturday, said that while he was "modestly optimistic" the day before coming out of a meeting with legislative leaders, "we don't yet see an agreement," according to a transcript released by the network.
The White House sees the president's bully pulpit as a point of leverage over Republicans. In closed-door meetings, Mr. Obama has said he would use his inaugural address and State of the Union speech to lay blame in the event the nation goes over the fiscal cliff.
Legislative leaders have been working through the weekend to come up with a deal that would end the stalemate. If they have a breakthrough, the Senate could vote on a proposal in a rare Sunday session. Should negotiations falter before Jan. 1, the lower income-tax rates that had been ushered in by George W. Bush will expire and be replaced by higher rates that were in place when Bill Clinton was in office. Weeks of postelection negotiations have thus far proved fruitless.
In the interview, the president rejected the idea that both sides are equally at fault. He said that Republicans "have had trouble saying yes to a number of repeated offers."
Mr. Obama has long called for preserving the Bush-era tax cuts for those earning up to $250,000. But in the flurry of offers and counteroffers, he has signaled a willingness to raise the threshold.
The president voiced frustration that lawmakers have pushed the limit of another deadline. He said that one of his core positions in the debate over the fiscal cliff should be acceptable to Republicans: keeping the lower tax rates in place for 98% of Americans.
Mr. Obama told host David Gregory that "the only thing I would caution against…is I think this notion of, 'Well, both sides are just kind of unwilling to cooperate.' And that's just not true. I mean if you look at the facts, what you have is a situation here where the Democratic Party, warts and all, and certain me, warts and all, have consistently done our best to try to put country first."
That the standoff persists, he said, "is an indication of how far certain factions inside the Republican Party have gone where they can't even accept what used to be considered centrist, mainstream positions on these issues."
Singling out the two GOP legislative leaders, House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio and Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the president added that "Congress has not been able to get this stuff done." The reason, he said, is "not because Democrats in Congress don't want to go ahead and cooperate, but because I think it's been very hard for Speaker Boehner and Republican leader McConnell to accept the fact that taxes on the wealthiest Americans should go up a little bit, as part of an overall deficit reduction package."
The president made clear he retains some leverage in the fight. If the nation goes over the fiscal cliff this week and taxes go up, he said he would immediately put forward a bill that would reduce rates for "middle-class families"—daring Republicans to vote down such a measure.
"So one way or another, we'll get through this," he said. "Do I wish that things were more orderly in Washington and rational and people listened to the best arguments and compromised and operated in a more thoughtful and organized fashion? Absolutely. But when you look at history, that's been the exception rather than the norm."
On other matters, the president said that tougher gun-control laws in the wake of the massacre in Newtown, Conn., will require widespread public support. He dismissed the idea that he could push through new restrictions by dint of his own "political capital." Invoking Abraham Lincoln, he said that "with public opinion there's nothing you can't do and without public opinion there's very little you can get done in this town."
Mr. Obama also said he would introduce a bill overhauling the nation's immigration laws in 2013—the first year of his second term. As far back as the 2008 campaign, Mr. Obama said he wanted to create a path to citizenship for people living in the U.S. illegally. But he was unable to develop a legislative consensus behind the effort and put it off.
An update of the nation's immigration laws is particularly important to Latinos, who solidly backed the president in his successful re-election bid. "I think we have talked about it long enough," Mr. Obama said. "We know how we can fix it. We can do it in a comprehensive way that the American people will support."
Write to Peter Nicholas at [email protected]