Obama courts public support
He urges social media messages to GOP as party calls for cuts
WASHINGTON — Seeking to leverage the momentum of his re-election victory for a partisan budget battle, President Barack Obamacalled on Americans to use social media to pressure Congress in his efforts to keep tax breaks for most Americans while raising rates on the top 2 percent of incomes.
The president’s attempt to rally public support Wednesday via Twitter, Facebook andemail marksa shift in strategy for the Obama White House, a dramatic turn from the grinding legislative battles and political maneuvers used to pass his health care overhaul.
No longer the hands-off executive, as he appeared during the health care fight, Obama has shifted to using the bully pulpit to support his legislative agenda, especially on a pledge he said a majority of Americans had supported on Election Day. But it heightened the already tense negotiating atmosphere on Capitol Hill.
“If there’s one thing that I’ve learned, when the American people speak loudly enough, lo and behold, Congress listens,” Obama said Wednesday in remarksbefore a bankofTV cameras and a selected group of middle-class taxpayers.
He met later in the Roosevelt Room with business executives to make the same case, and he told reporters it was on the agenda when he held his first postelection meeting with his full Cabinet.
High-level budget talks are scheduled to resume Thursday with a visit to Capitol Hill by Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, after a week of closeddoor staff conversations that produced little apparent progress.
On Friday, Obama will visit a Tinkertoy factory in suburban Philadelphia to argue that unless Congress acts, taxes will go up on virtually every American next year and the economy will suffer. The White House plans to add other campaign-style events in the coming weeks.
“I’ll go anywhere and I’ll do whatever it takes to get this done,” Obama said. “It’s too important for Washington to screw this up.”
Democrats welcomed Obama’s effort to mobilize public opinion as Congress struggles to strike a budget deal before year-end, when a series of automatic tax increases and sharp spending cuts is slated to kick in. Economists warn the one- two punch could tip the economy back into recession next year.
“It’s big contrast,” said Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vt. “In the health care debate, the president promoted health care but basically left it upto a very messy congressional process to handle it. (Now) he’s pushing us to act. He’s all in.”
As the public relations campaign unfolds, Republicans are torn between criticizing and emulating the approach.
In a counterpunch, House Republicans plan to fan out to their districts to meet small-business own- ers who they say would be hurt if taxes are allowed to rise on high-income Americans. Studies show 3 percent of small businesses make enough to be snared by the additional tax.
The Senate’s top GOP leader, Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, said the administration should spend more time negotiating entitlement cuts instead of lobbying for higher taxes.
“Democrats just won an election,” he said. “Turn off the campaign and recognize the opportunity that divided government presents to actually do something to strengthen these programs
Romney, Obama to have lunch
WASHINGTON— President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney plan to meet for a private lunch Thursday at the White House, fulfilling an offer that Obama made after his re-election victory.
The White House announced Wednesday that Obama and the former Republican nominee will dine at an undisclosed time. It will be closed to reporters and photographers. and protect them for future generations.”
House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, indicated he has little patience for the continued focus on taxes and wants the administration to put spending cuts to Medicare, Medicaid and other government programs on the table.
Boehner told Republicans their fight to prevent tax hikes on the wealthiest Americans was a “principled” position and one they should firmly maintain.
“We’re willing to put revenue on the table as long as we’re not raising rates,” he later told reporters.
An Obama aide said the president has “flexibility” on tax rates and entitlement reform. But his immediate goal is getting Congress to lock in middle-class tax cuts that have been in place for a decade, while raising those on top brackets to 39.6 percent from 35 percent.