COLLEGE PARK, Md. (AP) ? President Barack Obama is insisting that any deal to reduce the deficit must include tax increases on wealthier Americans and corporations, not just spending cuts.
Speaking at a town hall at the University of Maryland, Obama pressed his case as lawmakers scrambled to reach a deal to raise the nation’s borrowing limit by Aug. 2 to avoid default, and to cut the deficit at the same time. Obama sought to push back on the argument from House Republicans that taxes should not go up as part of the deal.
Obama said if the debt is reduced only by cutting spending, “then a lot of ordinary people would be hurt, and the country as a whole would be hurt. And that doesn’t make any sense.”
