HATFIELD, Pa. - President Obama made a campaign-style foray on Friday to a toy factory in this Philadelphia suburb to rally the public behind his plan to increase taxes on the wealthy while casting Republicans in Congress as modern-day Scrooges.
“I've been keeping my own naughty and nice list for Washington,†he told workers and others gathered at a plant that makes K'NEX toys. If Republicans hold middle-class tax cuts hostage to preserve them for the rich, he said, then everyone could end up paying more next year. “That's sort of like the lump of coal you get for Christmas. That's a Scrooge Christmas.â€
Mr. Obama's trip here was his first return to the road during a high-stakes effort to outflank his opponents on Capitol Hill in the looming crisis over the nation's finances. Rather than just sit down and negotiate with Congressional leaders, as he tried in the past to his disappointment, the president is pursuing a dual-track strategy that involves conc entrating as much public pressure on lawmakers as possible even as his aides make the rounds on Capitol Hill.
So far, Mr. Obama has largely stuck to his past positions, gambling that the 51 percent of the popular vote he won in this month's election constitutes a mandate that will force Republicans to back down. While he repeated here on Friday that he was willing to compromise, the proposals his advisers laid out to Congressional leaders on Thursday reflected an opening bid in a four-week negotiation with little new compromise so far.
Among other things, the president's advisers told Congressional leaders that he wanted $1.6 trillion more in tax revenues over the next 10 years, $50 billion in short-term stimulus spending to bolster the economy and an end to Congressional control over statutory borrowing limits. In exchange, he agreed to $400 billion in savings from Medicare and other entitlements over 10 years, to be worked out next year with no guarantees.
< p>Republicans have called that proposal an insult and a sign that Mr. Obama is not serious about reining in spending after a first term when annual federal budget deficits topped $1 trillion for several years in a row. White House officials counter that while Republicans since the election have agreed to more tax revenue as part of a solution, they have not offered specific new proposals either.If Mr. Obama and Congress do not reach agreement, then taxes will rise and spending will fall automatically at the end of the year. Mr. Obama, however, has focused his message almost entirely on taxes, narrowing the debate to the question of whether the Bush-era tax cuts should be extended for household income over $250,000 a year.
He called again on Congress to go ahead and extend the cuts now for income under that level. “The reason I'm here is because I want the American people to urge Congress soon in the next week the next two weeks to begin the work we have by doi ng what we all agree on,†he said. “Both parties agree we should extend the middle-class tax cuts.â€
Doing so would in effect end the debate over extending tax cuts for higher income since Congress presumably would not pass such a bill separately and even if it did Mr. Obama would veto it.
The president tried to enlist supporters to engage in the fight directly. “I want you to call, I want you to send e-mail, post on your Facebook wall,†he said.
He spoke after touring a Rodon Group factory here that makes K'NEX Brands construction toys like Tinkertoy, Ninetendo and Angry Bird building sets. About 150 people work at the factory and the White House said Rodon brought back 95 percent of their packaging and promotion from China to Pennsylvania in recent years.
The trip here culminated a week in which the White House released a report warning that consumer demand would fall if middle-class tax cuts are not renewed, gathered ostensibly typical tax payers to stand behind the president during a speech and organized meetings between Mr. Obama and small-business owners and corporate leaders.
