Obama to make statement on economy friday
By. Amina R Mrisho- Enlarge PhotoReuters/Reuters - U.S. President Barack Obama gestures onstage during his election night victory rally in Chicago November 7, 2012. Beside Obama are Vice President Joe Biden (2nd R) and Biden's wife Jill Biden.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Newly re-elected President Barack Obama will make a statement on the economy on Friday, the White House said, setting the stage for a showdown with congressional Republicans over contentious tax and spending issues.
The president is likely to discuss looming tax increases and government spending cuts - the so-called fiscal cliff - that would go into effect early next year unless Congress acts to prevent them. He is due to make the statement from the East Room of the White House at 1:05 p.m. (1805 GMT).
Obama, who defeated
Republican challenger Mitt Romney on Tuesday in a race in which the two
candidates offered different visions for jump-starting the sluggish economy, is not expected to put forward a new or specific plan.
Instead, he is more
likely to urge Congress to tackle the fiscal cliff and try to cut the
massive U.S. budget deficit. Analysts have said that if left
unaddressed, the abrupt fiscal tightening would knock the economy back
into recession.
Congressional Republicans
have already begun to stake out their position on ways to spare the
already modest economic recovery from a fiscal shock. House of
Representatives Speaker John Boehner is scheduled to hold a news
conference earlier on Friday.
The president's
advisers told reporters earlier on Thursday that dealing with the fiscal
cliff would be an immediate priority. The administration sees Obama's
re-election an endorsement of his position that affluent Americans
should see their taxes rise, they said.
"One of the
messages that was sent by the American people throughout this campaign
is ... (they) clearly chose the president's view of making sure that the
wealthiest Americans are asked to do a little bit more in the context
of reducing our deficit in a balanced way," senior White House adviser
David Plouffe said.
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