Obama: No.1 priority is tax cuts

SEOUL, Nov. 12 (UPI) -- U.S. President Barack Obama said Friday in Seoul his No. 1 priority is to preserve tax cuts for middle-class Americans.

Obama spoke at a news conference at the end of the G20 Summit. He said he is not caving in to Republican demands to extend Bush administration tax cuts for the wealthy, CNN reported.

"Here's the right interpretation: I want to make sure that taxes don't go up for middle-class families starting on January 1 -- my number one priority for those families and for our economy. I also believe that it would be fiscally irresponsible for us to permanently extend the high-income tax cuts," the president said.

"I think that would be a mistake, particularly when we've got our Republican friends saying that their number one priority is making sure that we are dealing with our debt and our deficit."

Obama said he wouldn't negotiate tax cuts at the G20 Summit. He said he would hold the discussions when Congress returns to work for a lame-duck session next week.

"I'm not going to negotiate here in Seoul. My job is to negotiate back in Washington with Democratic and Republican leaders," he said.

The president also said outgoing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi should remain in a leadership position as minority leader.