President Barack Obama photographed on Dec. 3, 2012 (Creative Commons).

The Republican plan would extend all current tax rates, the Los Angeles Times reported, aiming to find $800 billion in new revenue over 10 years for deficit reduction by eliminating tax loopholes and deductions. 

“It’s not me being stubborn. It’s not me being partisan. It’s just a matter of math,” Obama told Bloomberg. “When you look at how much revenue you can actually raise by closing loopholes and deductions, it’s probably in the range of $300 billion to $400 billion. That’s not enough to come up with a balanced plan that actually reduces the deficit and puts us on the path of long-term stability.”

The top tax rate will rise from 35 percent to 39.6 percent in January when the George W. Bush-era tax cuts expire, according to The Washington Post. Obama proposed that low tax rates on the remaining 98 percent of the population should be extended. 

“Let’s let tax rates on the upper-income folks go up,” Obama said. “. . . And then let’s set up a process with a time certain, at the end of 2013 or the fall of 2013, where we work on tax reform, we look at what loopholes and deductions both Democrats and Republicans are willing to close. And it’s possible that we may be able to lower rates . . . at that point.”

Read more of Neon Tommy’s coverage on the “fiscal cliff” here.

Reach Executive Producer Agnus Dei Farrant here.