VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. - President Barack Obama says if Mitt Romney and Republicans aren't willing to let tax cuts lapse for the wealthiest Americans, they're "not serious" about deficit reduction.

At a campaign rally in Virginia Beach, Va., 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.