Obama, House GOP plan rival public campaigns on ‘fiscal clif

President Barack Obama is ramping up efforts to win over Americans—and pressure Congress—on the looming "fiscal cliff," with events at the White House and on the road to argue for the expiration of Bush-era tax cuts chiefly benefiting the rich.

The response from his top Republican foes? On Tuesday morning, Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell portrayed the president's outreach effort as an unserious distraction from negotiations with Congress. But minutes after McConnell's sharp-tongued criticism, Republican House Speaker John Boehner's office announced that his members would be countering the president's road show with one of their own.