Obama Fiscal Cliff Remarks: President Pushes Middle Class Tax Cut Pitch

By JIM KUHNHENN, ASSOCIATED PRESS

HATFIELD, Pa. (AP) — President Barack Obama is urging Congress to pass an extension of tax cuts for middle class families, saying a tax increase for them would be like a "lump of coal" for Christmas.

In his first campaign-style event to sell his solution on the "fiscal cliff," Obama says in the Philadelphia suburbs that Republicans should extend existing Bush-era tax rates for households earning $250,000 or less, while allowing increases to kick in for the wealthy.

He says both sides need to "get out of our comfort zones" to reach an agreement.

He toured a manufacturing facility that builds construction toys, joking that he's keeping his own "naughty and nice list" for Congress and urging the public to pressure lawmakers to pass the tax cut extension for the middle class.