Larson Statement on President’s Remarks on the Fiscal Cliff

HARTFORD, CT – House Democratic Caucus Chairman John Larson (CT) released the following statement today after President Obama spoke on the need to address the fiscal cliff:

“After a long, hard campaign, President Obama and Governor Romney have both struck the right tone with regard to bringing the country back together. And they’re right. There is a lot of work to do. The good news is that, even in the polarized atmosphere that Washington has become, there is common ground that we can all agree on, like the need to create jobs and get the country back to work.

“Americans voted on Tuesday for solutions that require compromise, but not compromising of one’s principles. The good jobs that people want aren’t Democratic or Republican. They’re simply the dignity that American families seek. We all agree that the best way to get the deficit down is to get people back to work. After all, job creation equals deficit reduction. And we further agree that tax cuts ought to remain in place for the beleaguered middle class. All that remains is for Congress to sit down together – not as Democrats and Republicans, but as Americans – to pass what we can agree on. We can then work together to deal with the larger problems that need to be confronted with a balanced approach to debt reduction. That’s what American families want. Common sense. Hard work. And a little certainty. It’s time we give it to them.”