and daughter tiffany santana is an english teacher at marshall high school. she replied to the white house's media campaign to explain what would happen if congress and the president can't come to terms, and an added $2,000 per family tax hike comes their way. the families came together as one household a few years ago to help make ends meet. and to provide the best life for 6-year-old noah. >> $4,000 a year for us is two months' rent. it is our son possibly not being able to do some of the extracurricular things he likes to do, like tae kwon do. >> reporter: she hopes the administration's decision to use their family as a middle class example could change minds on capitol hill. >> i think sometimes they're forgetting that. that what they are doing behind closed doors, what they are doing in congress, affects me, my face. >> reporter: the family's message to the president? >> mainly the fact that we support him. and to get our point across to him that we are actually doing our part as middle class americans. >> and doing their part as middle class americans f

the high school teacher tiffany santana shares the house with her parents, her husband and her son. she recently contacted the white house about how paying $2,200 more in taxes would hurt them financially. >> if this family has a couple of thousand dollars left to spend, that translates into $200 billion of less consumer spending next year and that is bad for businesses large and small. >> president obama said that he supports keeping the bush-era tax cuts for the middle class but ending them on incomes over $250,000. lawmakers have until january 1st to strike a deal. >>> just a short time ago the national christmas tree was lit. president obama and the first family joined a star-studded cast to help usher in the holiday season. sue palka was there and joins us live tonight from the ellipse. hi, sue. >> reporter: you're catching me at a perfect time. we're into the entertainment. we just had jason moraz leave the stage. he's a terrific performer and here comes the fray. i'll tell you what, this crowd is loving the performances tonight. still caleigh and james taylor. i'm looking for

the president met with high schoolteacher tiffany santana and her husband and parents. tiffany wrote to the white house in a social media campaign to talk about looming -- how the looming tax increases would impact middle class families if the lawmakers don't reach a deal by the end of the month. >> so it would be more like a $4,000 tax increase for us. which would be relatively devastating for our family. so i wanted to share that with the white house. i wasn't sure i was going to get a response. but i did want to at least make my voice heard. >> news4's julie carey sat down with the santanas. she'll have more on why they said hosting the president was overwhelming. that's coming up at news4 at 6:00. >>> an effort to end serious violence, civil war moved forward today. secretary of state hillary clinton met with russia's foreign minister and syria's u.n. peace envoy to try to negotiate a peace strategy. they reportedly met for about 40 minutes in dublin to talk about how the start of political transition. this comes after defense secretary leon panetta warned syrian pre

he sat down with tiffany santana and her family to put a face on the fiscal cliff. >> for them to be burdened unnecessarily because democrats and republicans aren't coming together to solve this problem, gives you a sense of the costs involved in very personal terms. >> reporter: tiffany had used twitter to tell the president her family can't afford a tax increase. and the white house released this video. >> $2,000 for me would be paying a month's rent. >> reporter: back in washington, more gridlock. >> it's up to the republicans to decide how long it's going to take. >> the president actually isn't interested in a balance agreement. >> reporter: with both sides stuck on tax hikes for the top 2%, economists wonder if lawmakers will reach a deal this year. >> i'm skeptical. but i do think it can be done early next year, before it does significant economic damage. >> reporter: mark zandy warned a congressional committee they would have just over a month to negotiate in 2013 before the economy falls apart. >> by mid-february, it will be doing a lot of damage. >> reporter: anticipating t

obama sat down with tiffany and richard santana. they're living with tiffany's parents in their effort to make ends meet. tiffany wrote to the white house about how across the board tax hikes would affect them. she did not expect a personal visit, though, from the president. >> so overwhelming to know that the leader of the free world is sitting at your kitchen table. being more like a $4,000 tax increase for us, which would be relatively devastating for our family. >> republicans are refusing any deal that raises taxes. the president says he'll only sign a deal that raises taxes on the wealthiest 2%. >>> there is a newest mat tonight on the cleanup costs from superstorm sandy. new jersey's governor chris christie says the storm caused $37 billion in damages to his state alone. today he made the rounds at the white house and on capitol hill. he's asking lawmakers for an additional $88$83 billion in zafltzaflt disaster aid for his state and new york and connecticut. >>> tonight dozens of couples are officially to tie the knot in maryl

he met with tiffany and richard santana yesterday. the middle class couple is living with tiffany's parents to help make ends meet. she wrote about her struggles to the white house as part of a social media campaign. >> at first it was just that white house.gov was going to come and get a little more information about our story, and we really thought it was going to be that, just white house.gov coverage. as the days went on, we understood that that senior white house officials was the white house official. so it was pretty exciting for us. >> president obama and lawmakers now have less than four weeks to reach a deal to avoid steep tax hikes and spending cuts from taking effect. >>> 4:34 now. melissa mollet is at the live desk with breaking news. good morning, melissa. >> good morning. sirens are going off. a tsunami warning in japan. take a look at this video we just got into the newsroom. the 7.2 magnitude earthquake has hit off the northern coast. you can see that trafblling camera moving as that quake hits. it shook and swayed bui

he met with tiffany and richard santana yesterday. living with tiffany's parents to help make ends meet. she wrote about her struggles to the white house as part of a social media campaign. >> we live with an extended family. we have two sets of adult incomes in our home. it would be more like a $4,000 tax increase for us, which would be relatively devastating for our family. i wanted to share that with the white house. i wasn't sure i was going to get a response, but i did want to at least make my voice heard. >> president obama says he'll only sign off on a budget deal that includes a tax hike for the wealthiest americans. republicans say they want to generate additional tax revenue by closing tax loopholes and eliminating some deductns. >>> the budget stalemate is taking its toll on maryland and virginia's governments. in maryland, state leaders say they can't make decisions on budget plans until they see how the fiscal cliff negotiations turn out. in virginia, governor bob mcdonnell says some of the cuts to state agencies recommend

this time the scene played out in falls church, virginia, at the home of high school teacher tiffany santanahard who works at a local toyota dealership. also at the table, tiffany's parents who live with them. >> it ain't every day that your president comes into your home. >> reporter: this family's political tattoo is still staked in the front yard. >> i'm concerned. >> reporter: cnn sat down with the santanas after the presidential motorcade road away down james street just nine miles from the white house. because their parents are also middle income wage earners, the entire household would see a $4,000 tax increase if an agreement isn't reached. >> i think the president has a mandate from the people. i think that most of the people don't mind the president's plan. they support it. so i feel like it's really a matter of congress backing what the people's mandate was. >> reporter: a deal appears much further than the distance between this home and capitol hill because the president won't budge on extending tax cuts for the very wealthy leading republicans to charge he isn't interested in co

obama will be visiting the northern virginia home of tiffany and richard santana.resident says that every day that passes without a solution to the fiscal problem creates more stress and uncertainty for american families. the santana's say that the tax increase would amount to two months' rent or their family. >> a new poll for the associated press vice president about approval ratings are high but americans are divided on what kind of president he has bed. obama approval rating stands at 57%, the highest since the raid that killed osama bin live in. 37 percent say obama has been above average are outstanding while 26 percent say he's been below average. another 25 percent say he's just average. >> the 2012 presidential election has become the most expensive in history. the election of the 2 million billion dollar mark in its final weeks. mitt romney raised nearly $86 million in fund raising in the elections last weeks. the final push brought the romney campaign total to more than $1 billion. final totals for present obama as reelection campaign was also more than