In weekly address, Obama insists Congress must extend middle-class tax cuts

It's not about which political party comes out on top, or who wins or loses in Washington. It's about making smart decisions that will have a real impact on your lives and the lives of Americans all across the country.

Short, simple, direct and sweet: Extend the middle-class tax cuts.

Yes, for the fourth week in a row, President Obama chose to use his weekly address to send just the one over-riding message of how tax cuts for the middle class need to be extended and will not be held hostage to Republican insistence on giving tax breaks to the rich.

The Senate has already done their part. Now we're just waiting for Republicans in the House to do the same thing. But so far, they've put forward an unbalanced plan that actually lowers rates for the wealthiest Americans.  If we want to protect the middle class, then the math just doesn't work.

Wait, there's even more, from a president who seems pretty damn sure he just won an election based on his arguments to voters on this very topic:

After all, this was a central question in the election. A clear majority of Americans ' Democrats, Republicans and Independents ' agreed with a balanced approach that asks something from everyone, but a little more from those who can most afford it. It's the only way to put our economy on a sustainable path without asking even more from the middle class. And it's the only kind of plan I'm willing to sign.

This really does sound like a showdown he's more than willing to take on with intractable Republicans. And he sounds like a president who's pretty sure he's got a winning hand.

To read the transcript in full, check below the fold or visit the White House website.