Obama Calls Lawmakers To Set Post-Election Agenda [VIDEO]

President Barack Obama has telephoned leading lawmakers from both parties to talk about a legislative agenda for the remainder of the year.

Obama called House Speaker John Boehner, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell and House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi on Wednesday following his re-election to a second term.

The White House said Obama reiterated his commitment to finding bipartisan solutions to reduce the deficit in a balanced way, cut taxes for middle-class families and small businesses and create jobs.

The White House said Obama told lawmakers that voters sent a message in the election, namely that leaders in both parties should put aside partisan interests and work with common purpose to solve problems for the American people.

Top Democrat wants quick deal on 'fiscal cliff'

The top Democrat in Congress is calling for a quick solution to Washington's "fiscal cliff' in an upcoming post-election session.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid says he's "not for kicking the can down the road" and says any solution should include higher taxes on "the richest of the rich."

The so-called fiscal cliff is the one-two punch of expiring Bush-era tax cuts and across-the-board spending cuts to the Pentagon and domestic programs that could total $800 billion next year.

It's the most immediate item confronting President Barack Obama and a divided Congress in a post-election lame duck session. Economists say it threatens to push the economy back into recession if Obama and Republicans can't forge a deal to prevent it.

(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)