Obama: 'Tough choices' for everyone

WASHINGTON, Nov. 5 (UPI) -- U.S. President Barack Obama Saturday urged Congress to extend middle-class tax cuts but said deficit reduction will "require everyone to make tough choices."

In his weekly radio and Internet address, the president repeated his call to allow tax cuts to expire as scheduled at the end of the year for "millionaires and billionaires," but "the last thing we should do is raise taxes on middle-class families."

"For the past decade, they saw their costs rise, their incomes fall, and too many jobs go overseas," he said. "They're the ones bearing the brunt of the recession. They're the ones having trouble making ends meet. They are the ones who need relief right now."

Acknowledging that voters in this week's election -- who turned control of the House over to Republicans and reduced the Democratic majority in the Senate -- made it clear they are "frustrated with the pace of our economic recovery" and "fed up with partisan politics and want results."

"And it's time to focus on our shared responsibilities to work together and deliver those results: speeding up our economic recovery, creating jobs, and strengthening the middle class so that the American Dream feels like it's back within reach," he said.

"And I believe there's room for us to compromise and get it done together," he said.

Obama said there is bipartisan agreement the government needs to cut spending and reduce the deficit.

"That's going to require everyone to make some tough choices," he said.