by Aamer Madhani, USA TODAY
President Obama is taking to the road today to make his case for adopting his plan to avert the "fiscal cliff."
Obama
will visit the toy manufacturer, the Rodon Group, a company in the
Philadelphia suburbs that is the sole U.S. manufacturer for K'NEX
Brands, a construction toy company whose products include Tinkertoy and
Angry Birds Building Sets.
The trip comes one day after Treasury
Secretary Timothy Geithner met with Congressional leaders and presented a
plan that included $1.6 trillion in higher taxes over the next decade,
while maintaining the George W. Bush-era tax cuts for the middle class.
That offer was flatly-rejected by Republican leadership, which opposes
hiking taxes for any Americans.
Republicans have cast the trip as a
campaign-style ploy, and the Republican National Committee grumbled in a
memo this morning that the "election is over."
With his trip to
the Rodon Group manufacturing facility in Hatfield, Pa., look for Obama
to showcase the company as one that would be hurt if Republicans don't
go along with his plan that calls for taxes to increase for the
wealthiest Americans, while maintaining the Bush-era rates for American
households making less than $250,000.
By visiting a toy
manufacturer less than four weeks before Christmas Day, Obama has found
an ideal backdrop to argue that Congress should immediately agree to
extending tax rates for middle class Americans. If there isn't clarity
on the matter, the White House suggests Americans might close their
wallets in the midst of the holiday season.
"As we move into the
holiday season, Democrats and Republicans should come together to renew
middle class tax cuts so families have more certainty at this critical
time for our economy," the White House said in an e-mail to reporters. "
If we act quickly, we can prevent a hit to consumer spending which is
roughly 70% of the U.S. economy. That's good for middle class families
and it's important for businesses like The Rodon Group."