President Barack Obama returned to the White House on Wednesday emboldened by his stunning re-election and challenging his Republican opponents to work with him to avert a looming financial crisis.
The liberal euphoria that greeted Obama’s landmark election defeat of Mitt Romney was short-lived as he immediately set about the daunting task of breaking down partisan gridlock in a bitterly divided Congress.
Before leaving Chicago, Obama was already on the phone trying to bridge the gap with Republican leaders to avoid a potentially catastrophic “fiscal cliff” that could plunge the fragile US economy back into recession.
A combination of dramatic spending cuts and tax increases will take effect on January 1 without a deal on reducing the ballooning budget deficit, with Democrats and Republicans in Congress locked in a stand-off.
Obama called congressional leaders, sending out an overt message that his priority was to try to break the deadlock in the lame-duck session of Congress that precedes his January 21 inauguration ceremony.
He spoke to Republican House Speaker John Boehner and also telephoned the minority Republican leader in the Senate, Mitch McConnell, as well as top Democrats.