David Axelrod: On Taxes, The Election 'Wasn't Close' (VIDEO)

WASHINGTON -- Obama campaign adviser David Axelrod said Sunday the president's victory was a mandate on his vision for taxes, pointing out that a majority of voters said they support ending the Bush-era tax cuts on the wealthy.

"On this particular issue, it wasn't close,” Axelrod told host Bob Schieffer on CBS' "Face the Nation."

The cuts first implemented under former President George W. Bush are set to expire at the end of the year, and the two parties are still at odds about how they should be extended. President Barack Obama and the Democrats argue the cuts should continue for those making less than $250,000 per year, but that taxes should be allowed to go up on others so the government can gain additional revenue to bring down the deficit. Republicans, meanwhile, say raising taxes on the wealthy would hurt job creation.

Axelrod said "it is obvious" that cutting the budget would not be enough to bring down the debt.

"You need new revenues, and every objective person who has looked at this agrees on that, so the question is where is that revenue going to come from?" he said. "The president believes it is more equitable to get that from the wealthiest Americans who have done very well and frankly don't need those tax cuts and who benefited disproportionately from the tax cuts in the last decade. Most Americans agree with that."

Schieffer asked about House Speaker John Boehner's (R-Ohio) recent comments that the tax code could be reformed by closing loopholes in order to bring in more revenue.

"I think that the speaker's comments have been encouraging, and obviously there's money to be gained by closing some of these loopholes and applying them to deficit reduction," Axelrod said. "I think there are a lot of ways to skin this cat, so long as everybody comes with a positive, constructive attitude toward the task."