Administration threatens hardball on fiscal cliff

Administration officials are putting out the word: President Obama is ready to play hardball on the fast-approaching fiscal cliff.

In a story in The Washington Post posted to its website on Wednesday night, unnamed officials say that Obama is prepared to veto any legislation that heads off tax hikes and spending cuts unless Republicans agree to raise taxes on the wealthy.

Obama has never said whether he would allow the country to go over the cliff.

If Obama wins re-election, many Republicans will attempt to get the president to ditch his effort to raise rates and instead go for a more sweeping agreement on the country’s debt that would, as The Post describes it, include “significant new tax revenue.”