Obama: Not All Democrats Feel "Betrayed" Over Tax Cut Deal
Updated: 2:20PM ET
In remarks made after a meeting with Polish president Bronislaw Komorowski on Wednesday, President Obama again defended the White House's recently-announced tax cut deal, and argued that the liberal outcry of the plan had been exaggerated.
"I think it is inaccurate to characterize Democrats, writ large, as quote-unquote betrayed," Mr. Obama told reporters.
The plan, which was reached after extensive negotiations with Republican leadership, includes a two year extension of Bush-era tax cuts for all Americans - including the nation's highest earners.
A number of Democratic congressmen and Senators have decried the compromise, and some have gone so far as to threaten to filibuster a bill to ensure it does not pass through Congress.
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"I think the more they look at it, the more of them are going to say, 'This makes sense,'" Mr. Obama said, of lawmakers. He urged them to "examine the agreement, look at the facts, have a thorough debate, but get this done. The American people are watching.''
Recent polls show somewhat conflicting results regarding how voters feel about the tax cut issue: A Dec. 8 Gallup poll indicates that 66 percent of Americans would support the two-year extension of tax cuts for all Americans. But a recent Bloomberg National Poll, which offered respondents a slightly more specific version of the question, indicates that only a third of voters approve of upholding the breaks for upper-income tax payers. An additional third of those surveyed said they thought cuts should be extended only to the middle class, and more than a quarter of respondents said that all of the Bush-era tax cuts should be left to expire at the end of the year, as scheduled.
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A Dec. 2 CBS News poll foundthat 53 percent of Americans want the Bush-era tax cuts extended only for households earning less than $250,000 per year.
The Gallup poll also indicated that 66 percent of Americans support extending unemployment benefits to the long-term unemployed.
During his remarks, Mr. Obama also expressed his confidence that "we are going to be able to get the START treaty on the floor, debate and completed before we break for the holidays," according to the Associated Press.
