health care reform today and try and back republicans back into a corner and suggested that maybe he s starting to play the blame game and saying if we go off the cliff it s going to be republicans fault. take a listen to what he had to say. not because democrats and congress don t want to go ahead and cooperate, but because i think it s been very hard for speaker boehner and republican leader mcconnell to accept the fact that taxes on the wealthiest americans should go up a little bit and as part of an overall deficit reduction package. if folks can t say yes to good offers, then i also have an obligation to the american people to make sure that the entire burden of deficit reduction doesn t fall on seniors who are relying on medicare. now, one of the questions in the days ahead will be whether or not this strategy back fired because republican leaders on the hill had their feathers ruffled by the fact that the president seemed to be blaming them. and speaker john boehner saying h
white house. last minute meetings were called, vacations cut short but as we listen to some of our nation s top politicians try to explain when a deal is not in place, seems like they can t agree on the reason nothing is getting done. we re willing to work with whoever can help. there is no single issue that remains an impossible sticking point. the sticking point appears to be a willingness, an interest, or frankly the courage to close the deal. so far at least congress has not been able to get this stuff done, not because democrats in congress don t want to go ahead and cooperate, i think it has been very hard for speaker boehner and republican leader mcconnell to accept the fact that taxes on the wealthiest americans should go up a little bit as part of an overall deficit reduction package. gregg: wendell goler is live at the white house. wendell, what are you hearing there? reporter: will as we heard, gregg, from my buddy
but, you know, so far at least, congress has not been able to get this stuff done, not because democrats in congress don t want to go ahead and cooperate, but because i think it s been very hard for speaker boehner and republican leader mcconnell to accept the fact that taxes on the wealthiest americans should go up a little bit as part of an overall deficit reduction package. when you talk about a dysfunction in washington, you signed this legislation setting up the fiscal cliff 17 months ago. how accountable are you for the fact that washington can t get anything done and that we are at this deadline again? well, i have to tell you, david, if you look at my track record over the last two years, i cut spending by over a trillion dollars in 2011. i campaigned on the promise of being willing to reduce the deficit in a serious way, in a balanced approach of spending cuts, and tax increases on the wealthy, while keeping middle class taxes low. i put forward a very specific proposal to
well, the other part of the fiscal cliff is congress agreed that they would cut an additional $1.2 trillion in spending. they put a committee together to try to come up with those numbers. they didn t figure out how to do it. and so what we now have is a situation where these automatic spending cuts go into place. now if we have raised some revenue by the wealthy paying a little bit more, that would be sufficient to turn off what s called the sequester, these automatic spending cuts. and that also would have a better outcome for our economy long-term. but you know, so far at least, congress has not been able to get this stuff done. not because democrats in congress don t want to go ahead and cooperate. but because i think it s been very hard for speaker boehner and republican leader mcconnell to accept the fact that taxes on the wealthiest americans should go up a little bit. as part of an overall deficit reduction package. you talk about a dysfunction
well, the other part of the fiscal cliff is congress agreed that they would cut an additional $1.2 trillion in spending. they put a committee together to try to come up with those numbers. they didn t figure out how to do it. and so what we now have is a situation where these automatic spending cuts go into place. now if we have raised some revenue by the wealthy paying a little bit more, that would be sufficient to turn off what s called the sequester, these automatic spending cuts. and that also would have a better outcome for our economy long-term. but you know, so far at least, congress has not been able to get this stuff done. not because democrats in congress don t want to go ahead and cooperate. but because i think it s been very hard for speaker boehner and republican leader mcconnell to accept the fact that taxes on the wealthiest americans should go up a little bit. as part of an overall deficit reduction package. you talk about a dysfunction in washington.