Obama Defends Tax-Cut Plan as ‘Good Deal’ for Americans

The New York Times reports:

President Obama, facing a Democratic revolt over his tax accord with Republicans, defended the package on Tuesday, saying his party’s lawmakers ought to support it as a ‘’good deal for the American people” and that he had no choice but to compromise if he wanted to help the middle class.

With top Democratic leaders like House Speaker Nancy Pelosi remaining neutral on the deal — and other Democrats, like Senator Mary Landrieu of Louisiana, decrying it — the president convened a news conference to passionately defend the package, which would extend the Bush-era tax cuts at all income levels for two years while keeping benefits flowing to the long-term unemployed. He sounded especially defiant as he lashed out at Democrats and critics on the left who are accusing him of abandoning his principles.