The fiscal cliff: Obama's plea for bipartisan compromise

In his first public address since declaring victory Tuesday night, the newly re-elected president urges Congress to end the gridlock

President Obama addresses the nation Friday about how he and congressional leaders will work together to avoid the "fiscal cliff."
(Image credit: Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

The video: A freshly re-elected President Obama, brimming with confidence, announced Friday that he had invited lawmakers from both parties to the White House next week to begin hammering out a bipartisan debt-reduction deal to avoid the "fiscal cliff." Without an agreement, $600 billion in tax hikes and spending cuts will kick in on Jan. 1, almost certainly plunging the nation back into recession. Throughout the campaign, Obama argued that rich should pay more taxes to reduce the deficit, and he said Friday that his victory proved most Americans agree with him. "Our job now is to get a majority in Congress to reflect the will of the American people," he said. "I am open to new ideas," Obama continued, "but I refuse to accept any approach that isn't balanced" with both spending cuts and revenue hikes. Obama also said he would be ready to sign a bill "right now" guaranteeing that taxes wouldn't go up for the 98 percent of Americans who make less than $250,000. See the video below. (Obama takes the stage at the 2:40 mark.)

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