Obama: Second term would be 'mandate' for cuts, tax increases - Washington Times

Obama: Second term would be 'mandate' for cuts, tax increases - Washington Times President Obama said in an interview aired Monday that his first priority if re-elected would be to push for passage of a debt-reduction plan to cut spending and raise taxes on the nation's highest earners. Appearing in a taped interview on MSNBC's "Morning Joe," Mr. Obama predicted that Congress can approve a plan to reduce the country's debt and deficit as soon as during a lame-duck session later this year, or in the early months of next year. "If we won, then I believe that's a mandate for doing it in a balanced way," he said in the interview, which was taped Saturday at a campaign stop in Nashua, N.H. "We can do some more cuts, we could look at how we deal with the health care costs in particular under Medicaid and Medicare in a serious way, but we are also going to need some revenue." Read more: Obama: Second term would be 'mandate' for cuts, tax increases - Washington Times http://p.washingtontimes.com/blog/inside-politics/2012/oct/29/obama-second-term-would-be-mandate-cuts-tax-increa/#ixzz2AhMNOLzy Follow us: @washtimes on Twitter