[h=3]By JANET HOOK and CAROL E. LEE[/h] Senate leaders on Saturday rushed to assemble a last-ditch agreement to avoid middle-class tax increases and possibly delay steep spending cuts set to kick in next year, as President Barack Obama reiterated his call for lawmakers to find some common ground after weeks of gridlock.
Getty Images Obama speaks at the White House on Friday.
Following a White House meeting Friday among Mr. Obama and congressional leaders, aides to Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D., Nev.), were racing against the clock for a bipartisan bargain. The leaders could present legislation to senators as early as Sunday, with a vote possible on Sunday or Monday.
In his Saturday radio and Internet address, President Obama called again for lawmakers to cut a deal, even one that falls short of the ambitions he and congressional leaders may once have harbored for a bigger deficit-reduction package. Without a resolution, he warned, "every American's paycheck will get a lot smaller."
The nation "can't afford a politically self-inflicted wound to our economy," he said. "Congress can prevent it from happening, if they act now."
If congressional leaders can't reach an agreement on tax rates and spending cuts in time, he said, then he would urge the Senate to hold an up-or-down vote "on a basic package that protects the middle class from an income-tax hike, extends vital unemployment insurance for Americans looking for a job, and lays the groundwork for future progress on more economic growth and deficit reduction."
[h=3]Make Your Own Deficit-Reduction Plan[/h] Try your hand at balancing the budget and share the results.
[h=3]Related Video[/h]
Getty Images Obama speaks at the White House on Friday.
Following a White House meeting Friday among Mr. Obama and congressional leaders, aides to Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D., Nev.), were racing against the clock for a bipartisan bargain. The leaders could present legislation to senators as early as Sunday, with a vote possible on Sunday or Monday.
In his Saturday radio and Internet address, President Obama called again for lawmakers to cut a deal, even one that falls short of the ambitions he and congressional leaders may once have harbored for a bigger deficit-reduction package. Without a resolution, he warned, "every American's paycheck will get a lot smaller."
The nation "can't afford a politically self-inflicted wound to our economy," he said. "Congress can prevent it from happening, if they act now."
If congressional leaders can't reach an agreement on tax rates and spending cuts in time, he said, then he would urge the Senate to hold an up-or-down vote "on a basic package that protects the middle class from an income-tax hike, extends vital unemployment insurance for Americans looking for a job, and lays the groundwork for future progress on more economic growth and deficit reduction."
[h=3]Make Your Own Deficit-Reduction Plan[/h] Try your hand at balancing the budget and share the results.
[h=3]Related Video[/h]