REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT
East Room
1:08
P.M. EST
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. Thank you so much.
(Applause.)
Thank you very much, everybody. Everybody, please have a seat.
(Applause.)
Well, good afternoon, everybody. Now that those of
us on the campaign trail have had a chance to get a little sleep
-- it's time to get back to work. And there is plenty of work to do.
As I said on Tuesday night, the American people voted for
action, not politics as usual. You elected us to focus on your jobs, not
ours. And in that spirit, I've invited leaders of both parties to the
White House next week, so we can start to build consensus around the challenges
that we can only solve together. And I also intend to bring in business and
labor and civic leaders from all across the country here to Washington to get
their ideas and input as well.
At a time when our economy is still recovering from the
Great Recession, our top priority has to be jobs and growth. That's the
focus of the plan I talked about during the campaign. (Applause.) It's a
plan to reward small businesses and manufacturers that create jobs here, not
overseas. It's a plan to give people the chance to get the education and
training that businesses are looking for right now. It's a plan to make
sure this country is a global leader in research and technology and clean
energy, which will attract new companies and high-wage jobs to America.
It's a plan to put folks back to work, including our veterans, rebuilding our
roads and our bridges, and other infrastructure. And it's a plan to
reduce our deficit in a balanced and responsible way.
Our work is made that much more urgent because at the end
of this year, we face a series of deadlines that require us to make major
decisions about how to pay our deficit down -- decisions that will have a huge
impact on the economy and the middle class, both now and in the future.
Last year, I worked with Democrats and Republicans to cut a trillion dollars'
worth of spending that we just couldn't afford. I intend to work with
both parties to do more -- and that includes making reforms that will bring
down the cost of health care so we can strengthen programs like Medicaid and
Medicare for the long haul.
But as I've said before, we can't just cut our way to
prosperity. If we're serious about reducing the deficit, we have to
combine spending cuts with revenue -- and that means asking the wealthiest
Americans to pay a little more in taxes. (Applause.) That's how we
did it in the 1990s, when Bill Clinton was President. That's how we can
reduce the deficit while still making the investments we need to build a strong
middle class and a strong economy. That's the only way we can still
afford to train our workers, or help our kids pay for college, or make sure
that good jobs in clean energy or high-tech manufacturing don't end up in
countries like China.
Now, already, I've put forward a detailed plan that
allows us to make these investments while reducing our deficit by $4 trillion
over the next decade. I want to be clear -- I'm not wedded to every
detail of my plan. I'm open to compromise. I'm open to new
ideas. I'm committed to solving our fiscal challenges. But I refuse
to accept any approach that isn't balanced. I am not going to ask
students and seniors and middle-class families to pay down the entire deficit
while people like me, making over $250,000, aren't asked to pay a dime more in
taxes. I'm not going to do that. (Applause.)
And I just want to point out this was a central question
during the election. It was debated over and over again. And on
Tuesday night, we found out that the majority of Americans agree with my
approach -- and that includes Democrats, independents, and a lot of Republicans
across the country, as well as independent economists and budget experts.
That's how you reduce the deficit -- with a balanced approach.
So our job now is to get a majority in Congress to
reflect the will of the American people. And I believe we can get that
majority. I was encouraged to hear Speaker Boehner agree that tax revenue
has to be part of this equation -- so I look forward to hearing his ideas when
I see him next week.
And let me make one final point that every American needs
to hear. Right now, if Congress fails to come to an agreement on an
overall deficit reduction package by the end of the year, everybody's taxes
will automatically go up on January 1st -- everybody's -- including the
98 percent of Americans who make less than $250,000 a year. And that
makes no sense. It would be bad for the economy and would hit families
that are already struggling to make ends meet.
Now, fortunately, we shouldn't need long negotiations or
drama to solve that part of the problem. While there may be disagreement
in Congress over whether or not to raise taxes on folks making over $250,000 a
year, nobody -- not Republicans, not Democrats -- want taxes to go up for folks
making under $250,000 a year. So let's not wait. Even as we're
negotiating a broader deficit reduction package, let's extend the middle-class
tax cuts right now. Let's do that right now. (Applause.)
That one step -- that one step -- would give millions of
families -- 98 percent of Americans and 97 percent of small businesses -- the
certainty that they need going into the new year. It would immediately
take a huge chunk of the economic uncertainty off the table, and that will lead
to new jobs and faster growth. Business will know that consumers, they're
not going to see a big tax increase. They'll know that most small businesses
won't see a tax increase. And so a lot of the uncertainty that you're
reading about, that will be removed.
In fact, the Senate has already passed a bill doing
exactly this, so all we need is action from the House. And I've got the
pen ready to sign the bill right away. I'm ready to do it.
(Applause.) I'm ready to do it.
(Applause.)
The American people understand that we're going to have
differences and disagreements in the months to come. They get that.
But on Tuesday, they said loud and clear that they won't tolerate
dysfunction. They won't tolerate politicians who view compromise as a
dirty word. Not when so many Americans are still out of work. Not
when so many families and small business owners are still struggling to pay the
bills.
What the American people are looking for is
cooperation. They're looking for consensus. They're looking for
common sense. Most of all, they want action. I intend to deliver for them
in my second term, and I expect to find willing partners in both parties to
make that happen. So let's get to work.
Thank you very much, everybody. Thank you.
