Full Speech: Obama at Green Run H.S.

AP Modified

Updated: Jul 13, 2012 10:57 PM

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) — President Barack Obama spoke at Green Run High School in Virginia Beach on July 13, 2012 a part of a grassroots campaign effort.

Obama said if Mitt Romney and Republicans aren't willing to let tax cuts lapse for the wealthiest Americans, they're "not serious" about deficit reduction.

Photos: Candidates in Hampton Roads

At the campaign rally in Virginia Beach, the president renewed calls to extend Bush-era tax breaks for the poor and middle class while the two sides argue about the remaining top 2 percent of Americans.

But he says Republicans are balking -- and holding middle-class cuts, in his words, "hostage."

The GOP calls Obama's plan a recipe for a massive tax hike that'll hit small business.

Obama is kicking off two days of campaigning in Virginia, which he won four years ago -- the first Democratic presidential hopeful to do so since 1964.

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