President Barack Obama expressed confidence Monday that he can win an election-year fight with Republicans over taxes and the economy despite three straight months of weak job growth.
Obama urged Congress to pass a one-year extension of the Bush-era tax cuts for most Americans, but aides said he would veto a bill that included providing relief to households earning $250,000 or more, as GOP congressional leaders and presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney want to do.
“Let’s not hold the vast majority of Americans hostage and our entire economy hostage while we debate the merits of another tax cut for the wealthy,” Obama said in the White House’s ornate East Room.
Obama’s appeal drew a disdainful response from Republicans on Capitol Hill.
“President Obama is still asleep at the switch when it comes to our economy and jobs,” said House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio.
Boehner spokesman Michael Steel noted that Obama made his pitch “just days after another dismal jobs report,” which showed the unemployment rate holding at 8.2
Obama urged Congress to pass a one-year extension of the Bush-era tax cuts for most Americans, but aides said he would veto a bill that included providing relief to households earning $250,000 or more, as GOP congressional leaders and presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney want to do.
“Let’s not hold the vast majority of Americans hostage and our entire economy hostage while we debate the merits of another tax cut for the wealthy,” Obama said in the White House’s ornate East Room.
Obama’s appeal drew a disdainful response from Republicans on Capitol Hill.
“President Obama is still asleep at the switch when it comes to our economy and jobs,” said House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio.
Boehner spokesman Michael Steel noted that Obama made his pitch “just days after another dismal jobs report,” which showed the unemployment rate holding at 8.2