U.S. President Barack Obama says if the country is serious about reducing the deficit, it must ask its wealthiest citizens to pay higher tax rates.
In his weekly address Saturday, the president - who heads the Democratic Party - said he will not compromise his tax plan because it was a central principle of his re-election campaign.
Obama urged Republicans in the House of Representative to vote in favor of the plan that protects the middle class by preventing a tax hike on the first $250,000 of everybody's income. The Senate has already passed the plan.
The U.S. leader said if Congress does nothing, the taxes of every U.S. household will increase automatically on January 1.
Senator Marco Rubio said in the Republican address Saturday, that tax increases will not solve the $16 trillion debt. Rubio said only economic growth and a reform of entitlement programs will help control the debt.