BREAKING: Tax cut deal passes House, heads to Obama's desk

What the Tax Deal Means to Your Wallet
The pressure is off -- at least for now. With the Bush-era Tax Cuts extended for all Americans for at least the next two years under the law signed today by President Obama, government leaders have managed to postpone some tough decisions to be made surrounding the U.S. tax code until 2012. The law has been labeled “Compromise” Legislation, and for good reason. In exchange for the tax-cuts extension, Republicans agreed to extend jobless benefits for the long-term unemployed. They als...

President Obama signs tax deal, accompanied by GOP leader
WASHINGTON — With an end-of-year deadline bearing down on them both, President Barack Obama and Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell put auld acquaintance behind them on Friday, standing before television cameras together as their sweeping Tax Cut Compromise became law. The president’s signature on the bill means the George W. Bush tax cuts will continue for two years, rather than expiring at midnight on New Year’s Eve under the old law. But whether the moment foretells a s...

US tax deal, budget feud set stage for 2011 cuts
The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own. To nations suffering Austerity, it must seem as if Washington has gone mad. First, the U.S. Congress fails to agree on a 2011 Budget. Then lawmakers overwhelmingly pass another giant stimulus. But both events actually hint at some chance of more disciplined fiscal action next year. President Barack Obama will quickly sign the $858 billion stimulus/Tax Cut bill that funds Unemployment Benefits for 13 months and...

What the Tax Deal Means to Your Wallet
The pressure is off -- at least for now. With the Bush-era Tax Cuts extended for all Americans for at least the next two years under the law signed today by President Obama, government leaders have managed to postpone some tough decisions to be made surrounding the U.S. tax code until 2012. The law has been labeled “Compromise” Legislation, and for good reason. In exchange for the tax-cuts extension, Republicans agreed to extend jobless benefits for the long-term unemployed. They als...

Obama salutes spirit of compromise, signs tax bill
WASHINGTON—President Barack Obama signed into law a huge, holiday-season tax bill extending cuts for all Americans on Friday, saluting a new spirit of political Compromise as Republicans applauded and liberals seethed. The benefits range from Tax Cuts for Millionaires and the Middle Class to longer-term help for the jobless. The most significant tax Legislation in nearly a decade will avert big increases that would have hit millions of people starting in two weeks on New Year's Day. Decla...

Democrats got a better deal than Republicans on tax agreement, Gibbs says (Daily Caller)
White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said Friday that the tax deal passed through the House early Friday morning was not a bitter pill to swallow because it had more in it that President Obama wanted than stuff Republicans did. “We got a better deal on this than the other side did,” Gibbs said. Such pronouncements will balance the broader message sent later Friday when Obama holds a public ceremony to sign the tax deal into law. The deal is regularly referred to as a Tax Cut d...

Obama salutes spirit of compromise, signs tax bill
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama signed into law a huge, holiday-season tax bill extending cuts for all Americans on Friday, saluting a new spirit of political Compromise as Republicans applauded and liberals seethed. The benefits range from Tax Cuts for Millionaires and the Middle Class to longer-term help for the jobless. The most significant tax Legislation in nearly a decade will avert big increases that would have hit millions of people starting in two weeks on New Year’...

Obama salutes spirit of compromise, signs tax bill
President Barack Obama signed into law a huge, holiday-season tax bill extending cuts for all Americans on Friday, saluting a new spirit of political Compromise as Republicans applauded and liberals seethed. The benefits range from Tax Cuts for Millionaires and the Middle Class to longer-term help for the jobless. The most significant tax Legislation in nearly a decade will avert big increases that would have hit millions of people starting in two weeks on New Year's Day. Declared Obama: "We are...

Obama: Tax deal will 'create jobs for the American people'
President Obama signed a temporary extension of the George W. Bush Tax Cuts into law today, saying the disputed package will "grow our economy" and "create jobs for the American People." Without the bill, all of the Tax Cuts that Bush signed into law would have expired at the end of the year, and American families would be looking at thousands of dollars in higher taxes, Obama said at a signing ceremony. The Legislation is "a substantial victory for middle-class families across the country," Oba...

President Obama signs tax cut deal into law
Here's video of President Obama Friday afternoon, signing his Tax Cut deal into law and hailing it as a Bipartisan victory for middle-class families: Full transcript below the fold, but here's a snippet: This Bipartisan effort was prompted by the fact that Tax Rates for every American were poised to automatically increase on January 1st. If that had come to pass, the average middle-class family would have had to pay an extra $3,000 in taxes next year. That wouldn’t have just been a blow t...

Grab bag of goodies in Obama’s tax plan
WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama’s $858 billion tax package is a grab bag of goodies for investors, the affluent and workers, but the richer you are the more you get. Congress passed the bill after Liberal Democrats lost their bid to make it less generous to the wealthy, and Obama signed it into law Friday. There is something in the bill for virtually every Taxpayer. Low and moderate income workers see a Payroll Tax cut, and expansion of a Tax Credit for Working Families — priorit...

Grab bag of goodies in Obama’s tax plan
WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama’s $858 billion tax package is a grab bag of goodies for investors, the affluent and workers, but the richer you are the more you get. Congress passed the bill after Liberal Democrats lost their bid to make it less generous to the wealthy, and Obama signed it into law Friday. There is something in the bill for virtually every Taxpayer. Low and moderate income workers see a Payroll Tax cut, and expansion of a Tax Credit for Working Families — priorit...

It's Law: Obama Signs Compromise Tax Plan
Drew Angerer/The New York Times President Obama signed the $858 billion tax and Unemployment Insurance bill into law on Friday. President Obama signed the sweeping $858 billion tax bill into law on Friday afternoon, the culmination of a lawmaking process that featured intensive negotiations with Republicans and loud expressions of frustration from Democrats. It was a rare sight in an auditorium of the old Executive Office Building:  Senator Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader from Kentucky,...

New Jersey Senators divided over tax cut extension
On Wednesday, December 15, 2010, the United States Senate voted 81-19 overwhelmingly in favor of extending the temporary Tax Cuts put in place by former President George W. Bush in 2001 and 2003.  President Barack Obama urged the United States Congress to agree with the Tax Cuts being extended after he brokered a deal with the Republican leaders in the Senate.  However, New Jersey Senator Frank Lautenberg did not vote in favor of the tax cut extension brokered by President Obama while ...

Obama signs compromise bill extending tax cuts
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama has signed an $858 billion tax bill he negotiated with Republicans. The package extends Bush-era Tax Cuts for two years, including Tax Rates for the wealthy that Obama had vowed to let expire. The deal includes a 13-month extension of jobless benefits for the out-of-work, and a nearly one-third cut in Payroll taxes that finance Social Security. Displaying a new style of compromising, the president invited Democrats and Republicans alike to the Whi...

The tax deal's biggest losers
It's easy to declare the winners in the new tax bill, but let's not forget the unluckiest of them all -- those who have been jobless for 99 weeks. Now is just not the time for higher taxes. That's the message delivered by President Obama's tax deal, an $858 billion package that will extend Tax Breaks enacted under former president George W. Bush. The bill will prevent taxes from rising on New Year's Day for virtually every American household. What's more, it will create major incentives for bus...

Obama signs massive tax bill, hails deal with GOP
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama has signed an $858 billion tax bill he negotiated with Republicans. He praised the new law as a boost for the Middle Class. The package extends Bush-era Tax Cuts for two years, including Tax Rates for the wealthy that Obama had vowed to let expire. The deal includes a 13-month extension of jobless benefits for the out-of-work, and a nearly one-third cut in Payroll taxes that finance Social Security. Is an internship the new entry-level job? Did a C...

Obama says tax deal will help middle-class
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama says a Tax Cut package that’s about to become law will give a much-needed holiday-season boost to Middle Class Americans and spur the ailing economy. Obama spoke Friday before signing the $858 billion bill that retains Bush-era Tax Rates for all, while extending Unemployment Benefits and cutting the Social Security tax. The president negotiated the deal with Republicans, infuriating many liberals. Nonetheless the House passed it easily late Th...

House Does the Deal
A massive Bipartisan tax package preventing a big New Year's Day tax hike for millions of Americans is on its way to President Barack Obama for his signature. The measure would extend Tax Cuts for families at every income level, renew jobless benefits for the long-term unemployed and enact a new one-year cut in Social Security taxes that would benefit nearly every worker who earns a wage. In a remarkable show of Bipartisanship, the House gave final approval to the measure just before midnight Th...

Obama could cash in on compromised U.S. tax-cut deal
President Barack Obama (3rd-L) flanked by Vice President Joe Biden (L) and members of Congress including Senate Minority Leader Mitch Mc Connell, signs the middle-class Tax Cut bill in the South Court Auditorium December 17, 2010 in Washington, DC. The measure would extend tax cuts for families at every income level, renew jobless benefits for the long-term unemployed and enact a new one-year cut in Social Security taxes that would benefit nearly every worker who earns a wage. Sheldon Alberts, P...

Obama: Tax-Cut Deal Helps the Middle Class
President Obama attempts to win fans of his tax-cut plan during a Speech at the White House on Wednesday. In Internet-ese, one possible response to a couple of President Obama’s more intriguing justifications for passing the contentious tax-cut bill on Friday might be O RLY? This is because the president declared later that same day that the new measure will “protect the Middle Class, grow our economy ... and create jobs for the American People.” Meanwhile, Reuters characteri...

President signs tax extension bill; Reid, Pelosi absent
On Friday, President Obama signed the bill extending the Bush Tax Cuts for two years, but House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) were conspicuously absent. Reverend Al Sharpton was at the event, as were the Vice President and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY). Four other Republicans — Representatives Charles Boustany, Dave Camp, Tim Murphy and Dave Reichert were present as well as several Democratic members of the House and Senate. Accord...

Tom McClintock speaks to Congress on tax relief
I commend the Senate for passing the tax relief measure yesterday, and I hope that the House passes it today. According to the CBO, this bill comprises $136 billion in additional spending and $721 billion in tax relief. That means fifteen percent of this bill is spending – the other 85 percent is tax relief: No across the board increase in Income Tax rates next year. No AMT biting deeper into middle class families. A Death Tax that’s a third less of what it would otherwise have been ...

Obama And Republicans' Tax Deal Passes The House- Final Vote 277-148
Despite all the howling and temper tantrums when the tax deal was first reached by Barack Obama and Congressional Republicans, after passing the Senate with overwhelming Bipartisan support with a vote of 81-19, the House of Representatives passed the tax deal, as is, with a vote of 277 to 148. (Roll Call here) In a rush of late night activity, Liberal Democrats first held a show vote that was certain to fail, attempting to change the Estate Tax provision in the deal negotiated between Republic...

What the Tax Bill Means to Your Wallet
The pressure is off-- at least for now. With the Bush-era Tax Cuts extended for all Americans for at least the next two years under the bill signed today by President Obama, government leaders have managed to postpone some tough decisions to be made surrounding the U.S. tax code until 2012. The bill has been labeled "Compromise" Legislation, and for good reason. In exchange for the tax-cuts extension, Republicans agreed to extend jobless benefits for the long-term unemployed. They also agreed to...