Romney: Obama Passive On Handling Looming "Fiscal Cliff"

The GOP presidential candidate tries to regain footing in the race

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney accused President Barack Obama on Saturday of being “passive” while a looming budgetary calamity unfolds in Washington. 

As he sought to regain his footing after a tough week on the campaign trail, Romney singled out Obama for not seeking a bipartisan solution to the “fiscal cliff”: when some $109 billion in across-the-board spending cuts kick in unless Obama and Congress reach some sort of deficit-reduction deal to avert them. Democrats want to make up the shortfall by increasing taxes on wealthy Americans, while Republicans favor spending cuts.

"Political gridlock threatens to plunge us back into recession, but instead of seeking bipartisan solutions, President Obama is passively allowing us to go over a fiscal cliff," Romney said in his weekly podcast.

The White House said on Friday that it was congressional Republicans who are standing in the way of a deal because they refuse to accept a more balanced approach. Congress also has to vote on whether to extend the Bush-era tax cuts that also expire at year's end.