WASHINGTON |
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama said on Sunday he was hopeful of working out a deal with Republicans over tax cuts and of winning ratification of a new nuclear weapons treaty with Russia.
On his way back from a 10-day trip to Asia, Obama looked ahead to a dinner he will host on Thursday with leaders of both parties and said he believed opposition Republicans would "engage constructively."
"There are going to be some disagreements. There may be some need for compromise," he told reporters aboard Air Force One as he returned to Washington.
But Obama said he thought he and the lawmakers could hammer out agreements on issues pending for the final weeks of the current session of Congress, including "making sure that taxes don't go up for middle-class families starting January 1" and enacting measures to help businesses and spur economic growth.
On the treaty with Russia, Obama said there was recognition in Congress of the importance of cooperating with Moscow on a range of issues.
"My hope and expectation is that, given this is a good treaty, given it has the support of previous Republican senior government officials, that we should be able to get it done," he said.
In a major blow to Obama and his legislative agenda, Republicans won control of the House of Representatives from the president's fellow Democrats in the November 2 congressional elections and made gains in the Senate.
"NO BEND" ON TAXES
Thursday's meeting will be dominated by the debate over whether to extend a raft of tax breaks passed under President George W. Bush.
Republicans want to continue the cuts for wealthier Americans as well as the middle class, while Obama wants to extend them only for people earning up to $200,000 a year and families earning up to $250,000.
Earlier on Sunday, senior Obama adviser David Axelrod told NBC's "Meet the Press" there was "no bend" in the president's opposition to permanently extending the tax cuts for the rich but he left the door open to a shorter term extension.
Outspoken conservative Senate Republican Jim DeMint sounded a conciliatory note on Sunday, saying a two- or three-year extension of the tax cuts might be acceptable even though he preferred something permanent.
"If that's all we could get out of the president, then he is the president so we'll work with him on that," DeMint said.
Obama has argued that the United States, running huge annual budget deficits as it recovers slowly from its worst downturn since the 1930s, cannot continue to give big tax breaks to the wealthy.
He said he would press Republicans to come up with ways to offset the costs of the tax cuts in the budget.
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