Challenging his opponent on taxes and spending, President Barack
Obama said Friday if Mitt Romney and Republican leaders are
unwilling to let tax cuts lapse for the wealthiest Americans,
they're "not serious" about reducing the deficit.    Obama
sought to confront head-on a key argument from Romney and
Republicans, who have said Obama has promoted tax increases and
allowed the federal deficit to grow during the past 3 1/2 years.
Romney has called Obama's plan a massive tax hike that will hurt
small businesses, one of the major creators of new jobs.  Romney
had no public appearances Friday, but was giving interviews to
five major network and cable television news outlets that were
to be broadcast in the evening. On Thursday, Romney raised more
than $4 million at a fundraiser in Wyoming with former Vice
President Dick Cheney, who called him "a great American leader."
The president defended his record on taxes, saying he has cut
taxes for middle-class families by an average of $3,900 during
his presidency. "Jus