[CBS News] One day after House Speaker John It is not pronounced 'Boner!' Boehner
... the occasionally weepy leader of House Republicans...
, R-Ohio, bluntly stated that Republicans and Democrats are "almost nowhere" in their scramble to strike a deal before reaching the so-called "fiscal cliff" at year's end, President B.O. slammed the GOP for holding "middle class tax cuts hostage" and Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, charged that Mr. Obama's proposal is "a classic bait and switch."
Congress "can give families like yours a sense of security going into the New Year," the president argued in his weekly address, by acting now on "what we all agree on" - extending the Bush-era tax rates for Americans making less than $250,000 a year. If that doesn't happen, he said, "a typical middle class family of four will see their income taxes rise by $2,200."
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on Thursday presented Republicans with Mr. Obama's "balanced approach" to dealing with the series of tax hikes and spending cuts set to go into effect Jan. 1, which he says will draw a net $1.6 trillion in revenue by allowing the current tax cuts to expire for the wealthiest two percent of Americans and overhauling the tax code.
"It's unacceptable for some Republicans in Congress to hold middle class tax cuts hostage simply because they refuse to let tax rates go up on the wealthiest Americans," the president said, a familiar sentiment that has framed his weekly addresses now for months. Promising to "sign this bill as soon as Congress sends it my way," he said, "with the issue behind us, we'll have more time to work out a plan to bring down our deficits in a balanced way - including by asking the wealthiest Americans to pay a little more, so we can still invest in the things that make our nation strong, like education and research."
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