Selling his plan to reduce the federal debt in part by raising taxes on the wealthy, Obama meets Wednesday with selected members of the middle class and the business community.
Obama will speak during the event with middle class Americans, some of whom responded to an e-mail solicitation from the White House on the looming "fiscal cliff" -- a package of tax hikes and budget cuts that kick in if the White House and Congress can't strike a deal to reduce a federal debt that now tops $16 trillion.
Later today, Obama and Vice President Biden meet with business leaders to "discuss the actions we need to take to keep our economy growing and find a balanced approach to reduce our deficit."
These are the latest steps in an all-out political blitz to sell Obama's budget plans. On Friday, the president is scheduled to visit a Pennsylvania business -- a toy factory near Philadelphia -- to discuss the impact of the fiscal cliff.
As part of a debt deal, Obama wants to preserve George W. Bush tax cuts for the middle class, but eliminate them for Americans who make more than $250,000 a year, saying the government needs to take in more government revenues.
Republicans say they are willing to raise more revenue through closing loopholes, but oppose an increase in any tax rates, saying they would slow the economy.
GOP members say the emphasis should be on budget cuts, including the rapidly growing entitlements of Medicare and Social Security. But some congressional Democrats say entitlements should be off the table.
The White House provided a list of business leaders meeting with Obama:
-- Frank Blake, Chairman and CEO, The Home Depot
-- Lloyd Blankfein, Chairman and CEO, Goldman Sachs Group
-- Joe Echeverria, CEO, Deloitte LLP
-- Ken Frazier, President and CEO, Merck and Co.
-- Muhtar Kent, Chairman and CEO, Coca Cola
-- Terry Lundgren, Chairman, President, and CEO, Macy's Inc.
-- Marissa Mayer, CEO and President, Yahoo!
-- Douglas Oberhelman, Chairman and CEO, Caterpillar
-- Ian Read, Chairman and CEO, Pfizer
--Brian Roberts, Chairman and CEO, Comcast
-- Ed Rust, Chairman and CEO, State Farm Insurance Co.
-- Arne Sorenson, President and CEO, Marriott
-- Randall Stephenson, Chairman and CEO, AT&T
-- Patricia Woertz, President and CEO, Archer Daniels Midland
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