White House officials have quietly lobbied Wall Street and thebusiness community over the last several months to supportPresident Barack Obama's plan to impose higher taxes on the wealthyto cut the deficit and avert going over the fiscal cliff.

Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner, Jeff Zients, actingdirector of the Office of Management and Budget, as well as Chiefof Staff Jack Lew and National Economic Council Director GeneSperling were key administration officials dispatched before theelection to meet with top business and finance leaders, accordingto people familiar with the meetings.

With corporate executives among those expressing concern thatthe $607 billion in automatic tax increases and spending cuts knownas the fiscal cliff risks tipping the economy into anotherrecession, the administration has been working to enlist theirsupport before negotiations with Congress begin.