Newly re-elected President Barack Obama said on Friday the wealthy must pay more taxes under any political deal to avert a looming budget crisis. He said Congress must act against the so-called fiscal cliff, a package of tax rises and spending cuts due early next year.
US President Barack Obama formally notified Congress that he plans a 1.2 trillion dollars increase in the US debt limit, setting the stage for Republicans to level election-year charges that deficits are out of control.
A special debt-reduction committee in the US Congress failed to reach agreement, extending partisan gridlock into the 2012 election year and setting the stage for 1.2 trillion dollars in automatic spending cuts.
Top opposition Republicans in Congress criticized today President Barack Obama's proposal to pay for a job creation plan by eliminating 467 billion dollars in tax breaks for wealthier Americans and corporations.
President Barack Obama called on Republicans not to play “political games” with his jobs plan as he pressed for swift passage of a 447 billion dollars package he hopes will revive the US economy and boost his re-election prospects.
President Barack Obama urged Thursday evening a joint session of the US Congress to end what he calls the political circus in Washington, and move rapidly to approve job creation legislation he is sending to Capitol Hill. There was no official rebuttal from the opposition Republicans.
US President Barack Obama says he will announce plans to promote jobs and economic growth in a speech to Congress next week, although there is a now a dispute involving the Republican Speaker of the House of Representatives over the timing of the event.
The United States Senate leaders ended an impasse over stalled free-trade agreements, agreeing to vote after the August recess on benefits for workers who lose their jobs because of overseas competition, which opens the way for the approval of pending agreements with Korea, Colombia and Panama.
President Barack Obama announced Sunday Republican and Democratic leaders have reached an agreement on raising the US debt limit and avoiding default. He said the deal would cut one trillion dollars of spending over 10 years, and set up a committee to report by November on a proposal to further reduce the deficit.
US House of Representatives speaker John Boehner is urging Republicans to back his plan to cut the US budget and raise the debt limit. Boehner's appeal to conservative House Republicans came despite a White House veto threat and rejection from Democratic leaders in the Senate.