Economy/Business News Alert: Obama lays out deficit plan in Rose Garden speech

---------------------------------------- Economy/Business News Alert: Obama lays out deficit plan in Rose Garden speech September 19, 2011 11:38:03 AM ---------------------------------------- In a speech Monday morning outlining his plan to find $3 trillion in deficit reduction, President Obama threatened to veto any deficit-reduction plan that included cuts to Medicare and Medicaid without tax hikes on the wealthy. He also slammed House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) for saying that tax increases shouldn't be a part of any long-term deficit strategy being sought by the congressional "supercommittee." "We are not going to have a one-sided deal that hurts the folks who are most vulnerable," Obama said in an address from the Rose Garden. Obama defended his proposal for a new minimum tax rate on millionaires as part of a comprehensive rewrite of the U.S. tax code to force the wealthiest Americans to pay the same income tax rates as middle-class families. "I reject the idea that asking the hedge-fund manager to pay the same tax rate as a plumber or teacher is class warfare. I just do," Obama said. "I am ready, I am eager, to work with Democrats and Republicans to reform the tax code...But any reform plan will have to raise revenue to help close our deficit. That has to be part of the formula. Middle-class families shouldn't pay more taxes than millionaires and billionaires." http://link.email.washingtonpost.com/r/7CWL7Z/OJHGT1/QHZAJ1/3N5PC8/LXPMI/D5/h For more information, visit PostBusiness.com ---------------------------------------- Get The Washington Post app for iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch: http://itunes.com/apps/thewashingtonpost ---------------------------------------- Get breaking news alerts sent to your mobile phone. Sign up by texting NEWS to 98999. To unsubscribe, click here ---------------------------------------- ©2011 The Washington Post Company Washington Post Digital E-mail Customer Care 1150 15th Street NW Washington, DC 20071