Congress, Tax Cuts | featured news

Tax cuts that President George W. Bush signed in 2001 and 2003 are playing a major role in the election of 2012. They surface again today as the Democratic-run Senate holds a symbolic debate over President Obama's proposal to extend the Bush tax cuts only for middle-class Americans, not for the wealthy.

A standoff with Congress that results in the January expiration of wide-ranging tax cuts would mean 114 million families would see average tax increases of $1,600 next year, the White House says... "So far, the only reason the middle-class tax cuts have not been extended is that Republicans in Congress continue to insist on cutting taxes once again for the wealthiest few," the report said.

President Obama told Americans on Monday he wants Congress to extend tax cuts for the country's middle class while letting them rise on high income earners. As he attempts to turn voters' attention from the stagnant unemployment numbers — now standing at 8.2% — and limp economic recovery, Obama spoke at the White House as he made an opening campaign pitch for continuing middle class tax relief.

President Obama this evening rolls out a plan to inject $447 billion into the ailing economy through tax cuts aimed at working families and small businesses and spending to rebuild infrastructure, proposing a larger cash infusion than expected – and, perhaps, more than Congress will seriously consider.

President Barack Obama pressed his case Wednesday that tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans must be ended as part of a deficit deal, which he said he believed Republicans and Democrats would reach.

The House gives final congressional approval Thursday night to sweeping, bipartisan legislation to avoid a Jan. 1 spike in income taxes, sending the bill to President Obama for signing.

Liberals in the House have forced a vote on a different version of the estate tax provision. They also protest the terms of debate on the tax-cut bill, demanding a separate vote so they can voice opposition.

A deal that President Barack Obama struck with Republicans to extend expiring tax cuts for nearly every working American and spur job growth sailed through the Senate on Wednesday.

Former Massachusetts Gov. and potential GOP 2012 presidential candidate Mitt Romney today penned an op-ed in USA Today criticizing the tax deal, though he stopped short of urging Republicans in Congress to vote against it. "Death and taxes, it is said ...

Republicans and Democrats joined forces in the Senate on Monday to deliver the most significant bipartisan vote since President Obama took office, advancing a plan to extend tax cuts for virtually every American and to boost the economic recovery.