Obama Speaks After House Passes Fiscal Cliff Bill: "Very Open to Compromise," Can't Just Cut Spending, Not Having Debt Ceiling Debate Again

Can kicking a popular sport in DC

President Obama spoke tonight after the House passed a fiscal cliff deal previously passed by the Senate. Obama boasted the bill would raise taxes on the "wealthiest 2 percent."

Saying he was "very open to compromise," the president nevertheless said he would not have another debt ceiling debate with this Congress (though with this session of Congress almost over, taken literally the president's pronouncement is insignificant). Obama's expressed his wish not to repeat the 2011 debate over the debt ceiling (how much money Congress authorizes the U.S. government to borrow) before.

The fiscal cliff deal passed tonight cancels virtually all the reductions in spending growth meant to kick in when the fiscal cliff was reached. As economist Bob Murphy noted last week, the fiscal cliff consisted of about 98 percent tax hikes and 2 percent spending reductions. Yet the president still insisted "we cannot simply cut our way to prosperity." He needs to read this, desperately.

More on the fiscal cliff

Roll call of tonight's House vote here