The Hill News

President Obama blasted Congress on Wednesday for putting "special interest" pledges ahead of the country's best interests.

"I don't go around signing pledges, because I want to make sure that every day what's going to be best for the American people, that's what I'm focused on," Obama said. "I think that's what every member of Congress should be doing."

Obama said lawmakers should not let "some pledge they signed for some special interest group" dictate their actions in Washington.

Obama's comments were a thinly veiled reference to the Taxpayer Protection Pledge, the signature of Grover Norquist's tax advocacy group Americans for Prosperity, which has been signed by multiple members of Congress, mainly Republicans. The pledge became a sticking point in the recent debt-ceiling debate when many legislators refused to include tax increases as part of a deal.

Lawmakers who sign the pledge promise to oppose efforts to increase incom! e tax rates. They also pledge to refuse to eliminate tax credits or deductions without matching it dollar-for-dollar with tax reductions.

Obama's criticism was also a jab at the GOP presidential candidates, who all raised their hands in last weekend's Iowa presidential debate when asked whether they would refuse to raise taxes even if they could ask cut spending 10-to-1. Obama called their response an example of "ideological rigidity" in an interview on CNN Tuesday.

The president has hit Congressional Republicans hard throughout his three-day bus tour, accusing them of making the economy worse.

His latest comments came in response to a question from the audience at a town hall event held in Atkinson, Illinois. The audience member asked if the president would pledge that a future deficit-reduction deal would include increased revenues, in exchange for GOP presidential candidates who have pledged that they would not support any deficit deal th! at included tax hikes.

"I take an oath," Obama said! , indica ting that his presidential oath is the only pledge he needs. "My pledge is to make sure that everyday I'm waking up, I'm looking out for you--for the American people."

The Illinois town hall meeting was one of the stops on the third and last day of the White House-sponsored economic bus tour through three Midwestern states.