In Pa. today, Obama to urge immediate extension of middle-class tax cuts
President Obama to urge immediate renewal of expiring tax cuts on those making less than $250,000 year, warning of potential hit to consumer spending over holidays due to uncerainty.
In Pa. today, Obama to urge immediate extension of middle-class tax cuts
Thomas Fitzgerald, Inquirer Politics Writer
President Obama will argue Friday that immediate renewal of lower Bush-era tax rates for the middle-class could prevent a “hit to consumer spending” during the holidays, as he visits a Montgomery County toy factory, according to a White House official.
The campaign-style stop is part of a stepped-up effort designed to pressure Republicans, who control the House and have blocking power in the Senate, to bend to the president’s will in negotiations over a budget deal to avoid the fiscal cliff. If the two sides don’t agree on a deficit-reduction plan by Dec. 31, the income tax cuts of 2001 and 2003 will expire and automatic budget cuts will begin.
That’s the cliff, which experts say would have a recessionary effect on the economy.
Obama wants to allow taxes to go up on those making more than $250,000 a year while renewing the lower rates for those under that threshold. Republicans want to keep all the rates from increasing, arguing a fragile economic recovery is no time to raise the tax burden.
By focusing relentlessly on taxes, Obama has thrown the GOP on the defensive. But Republicans are pointing out that the president has yet to detail any real spending cuts to round out what he has called his “balanced” approach to deficit reduction.
In particular, they say that in exchange for any concessions on taxes, Obama must support restraints on the cost of Medicare, Social Security and Medicaid, the federal government’s biggest and fastest-growing programs.
“The Democrats have yet to get serious about real spending cuts,” House Speaker John Boehner said Thursday. “No substantive progress has been made…over the last two weeks.”
Boehner was speaking after the White House presented a proposal to him that relies on $1.6 trillion in tax revenue over 10 years, few details on spending cuts – and millions in more stimulus spending.
The president is visiting the Rodon Group in Hatfield, Pa. It is the sole U.S. manufacturer of K’Nex brand construction toys and also makes Tinkertoy products and Lincoln Logs. Double message bonus for the White House: Rodon brought 95 percent of its packaging and manufacturing back from China over the past few years, leading to a 25 percent increase in the size of its workforce, to 150.
“As we move into the holiday season, Democrats and Republicans should come together to renew middle class tax cuts so families have more certainty at this critical time for our economy,” said a White House official previewing the visit.
Expiration of the tax cuts for those making under $250,000 would increase next year’s tax bill on a median-income Pennsylvania family of four by $2,200, the administration calculates. (Median income in the state is $80,400.)
As to the rest of tpizza's post, his premise is flawed.
Here's a real problem:
Between 2006 and 2010, more than 900 of the most profitable US based corporations used our tax code to avoid paying any federal tax whatsoever, at least once. Many did so in numerous years. Not only did they pay nothing in, they received tax 'refunds' in the billions - even trillions - of dollars from the Treasury. This includes such companies as Bank Of America, Price WaterhouseCooper, ITT, Bechtel, Boeing and GE.
This does not even take into account the tax exempts such as the oil companies who still receive refunds based on moneys they have never paid in. Exxon paid nothing in and received refunds. BP paid nothing in and received refunds. The list is a who's who of large and highly profitable entities that have paid nothing or only limited fed tax. Of those who 'did' pay in something, many of those that claim billions in profit paid 1.7% tax, on average.
Might it be a reason for a deficit? Who is REALLY on welfare?— wokmaster- Wok, this could create an interesting discussion. If the problem is that corporations are not paying any taxes, an reasonable solution would be a simplified corporate tax code with a low rate - a sort of corporate "flat tax" if you will.
The question is how to best structure this. You don't want to tax a new business on revenue alone (like Philadelphia does) since that business may have real losses. So you would need a system that captures revenue from those corporations with earnings without stiffling startups or harming corporations with actual losses.— jfar86 - Wok, please tell us which company got a tax refund of trillions of dollars last year. It sounds like a great investment opportunity.— Mr. Smith
- Nice to see you again, Mr Smith. Where ya been? I'm still waiting to hear your explanation about the election...
I thought Obama was gonna lose Virginia after he made the comment about horses and bayonets?— wokmaster - I guess I underestimated the gravitational pull of the Black Hole in Washington, DC.— Mr. Smith
- No. Really. What were you basing your predictions off of? — wokmaster
- No, really, I didn't realize how corrupt and DC-teat weened NoVa is. It's a sad malweather of the future that is in store for the US.— Mr. Smith
- No, really, give us some insight into why you chose not to believe what the polls were saying. Or did you only believe Rasmussen? — wokmaster
- When my uncle had brain cancer, his initial reaction was to deny it, and even up until the end, when we all knew, he still thought that he could beat it with aggressive treatment. I guess that attitude runs in the family. I had hope that we could avoid the giant suck, but Virginia eagerly jumped into it.
So who do you predict will get a trillion dollar refund this tax year?— Mr. Smith - Fair enough. I haven't predicted any ONE company will get a trillion dollar refund. It's billions, between the companies I mentioned, even trillions. Look it up. — wokmaster
- Obama created the fiscal cliff by signing the legislation, he should be man enought to accept the consequences of his actions. How many times is he going to blame someone else for his incompetence? And if he wants to compromise, his hate mongering rhetoric should be the first thing to go.— InquiringMindz
- Please provide an example of President Obama "hate mongering". — wokmaster
- "between the companies I mentioned, even trillions. Look it up."
The biggest refund I found in my brief research was GE at $3B.
Are you sure you know what a trillion is?
The way the Federal Government throws money around, it's easy to get confused: millions, billions, trillions, quadrillions, they all start to sound alike.— Mr. Smith - "But Republicans are pointing out that the president has yet to detail any real spending cuts to round out what he has called his “balanced” approach to deficit reduction."
Exactly. Obama is all babble. He can fool his base, but it is what it is.— Falls Ed
You can reach Tom Fitzgerald at 215-854-2718 or tfitzgerald@phillynews.com.
Reach Thomas at tfitzgerald@phillynews.com.
