House approves tax-cut package

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...

Class Warfare
Dec 27, 2010, Vol. 16, No. 15 • By PETER WEHNER Get alerts when there is a new article that might interest you. Democrats are enraged at President Obama for his decision to extend George W. Bush’s Tax Cuts for all Americans, including top income earners. What explains their anger? It cannot be because of concern for the Deficit. After all, Democrats are responsible for an unprecedented two-year spending binge (the United States spent $1.3 Trillion more over the last two-year period...

Controversial tax measure signed
WASHINGTON — President Obama signed into law a huge, holiday-season tax measure extending cuts for most 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 New Year's Day. "We are here with som...

Obama signs tax-cut bill, hails the compromise as progress
WASHINGTON — President Obama signed into law a huge tax package extending cuts for all Americans yesterday, 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 two weeks after New Year’s Day. “We are here with so...

Obama signs tax-cut legislation
President Obama on Friday signed the bill that extends the George W. Bush-era Tax Cuts, while Congress moved to wind up its lame-duck deliberations in a session marked by the changing nature of politics and power. Speaking at the signing ceremony, Obama again defended his Compromise, worked out with Republicans. Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) was prominent at the ceremony, as was Vice President Joe Biden, who bargained with the Republican leader "This is real money that is going to mak...

House approves Obama's tax-cut deal
Reporting from Washington — The House approved President Obama's sweeping tax-cut Compromise at midnight Thursday, preventing Tax Rates from rising Jan. 1 and sending the president a Bipartisan agreement that few could have imagined in deeply polarized Washington. The vote to accept the $858-billion Senate-passed measure was 277 to 148. Now it goes to the president for his signature, which is expected to be swift. Obama campaigned incessantly for passage despite his opposition to extend...

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 ...

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...

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...

Krauthammer ♥ Obama
As someone who savors the ironies of life and politics, I have gotten a kick out of seeing my conservative colleague Charles Krauthammer emerge -- temporarily, no doubt -- as the Obama White House's favorite columnist. For two weeks running, he has argued how brilliant Obama's Tax Cut deal is, how he swindled Republicans in Congress, and how he has immensely strengthened his hand for the 2012 election. "Holding no high cards," Krauthammer wrote today of the president, "he nonetheless managed to ...

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...

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...

House vote on unemployment, tax cut extension at risk
A U.S. House vote on the Compromise bill to extend the Bush Tax Cuts for the rich and federal Unemployment Benefits may be delayed as opponents of the bill rejected an unusual procedure and demanded a chance to vote on the full bill. A final House vote on President Obama’s tax proposal could be delayed after Democratic leaders were forced to pull a procedural measure off the House floor Thursday. The House was set to vote on the rule governing debate on the broad tax bill, but the measure ...

Grab bag of goodies in Obama's $858-billion tax plan
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - 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 on 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 -- prior...

Holiday tax bill is law _ help for rich and poor
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 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 ...

Symbolism outweighed revenue in estate tax battle
From MSNBC.com's Tom Curry: House Democrats unhappy with the Tax Cut deal negotiated by President Obama managed to tie up the lower chamber with a procedural roadblock for most of the day Thursday but were unable to stop final passage of the bill that will be signed into law Friday afternoon. So what was all the fuss about? In a last gasp of Rhetoric over tax policy, Democratic opponents of the deal were battling over just about one percent of federal revenue in 2011. That's the money that woul...

Obama Signs Extension of Bush Tax Cuts
From the Associated Press: 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&...

House tax vote could be delayed
A final House vote on President Obama’s tax proposal could be delayed after Democratic leaders were forced to pull a procedural measure off the House floor Thursday. The House was set to vote on the rule governing debate on the broad tax bill, but the measure was withdrawn at the last minute when leaders realized it was likely to be rejected. Liberals opposed to the deal Obama struck with Republicans were upset that the procedure approved by the House Rules Committee on Wednesday did not all...

House Dems Offer a Solution to the Tax Bill Dispute
However, in the process they could end up killing the whole thing: Moments ago, House Rules Committee chair Louise Slaughter (D., N.Y.) told reporters “we are going to put an extra vote in” to the rule governing debate on the tax deal. House Democrats say there will likely be a total of four votes tonight related to the tax bill: 1) A vote to amend the existing rule to include a simple up-or-down vote on the tax deal. 2) A vote on the rule itself 3) A vote on the Pomeroy amendment, ...

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...

ObamaCare: the Beginning of the End?
As Jennifer Rubin notes at the Washington Post: The extension of the Bush Tax Cuts is an ideological and immediate victory for Conservatives, but hampering the funding of ObamaCare may be the most legislatively significant development of the week. Republicans aim to hold an Up or Down vote on Repeal and, if that fails, to dismantle the Legislation’s key provisions. A central element of that strategy, of course, will be halting its funding.It is a reminder for Democrats that their “...

In Tax-Cut Capitulation, House Democrats Again Redefine Pathetic
The House Democratic Caucus is truly pathetic. They are, in fact, so pathetic that I’ve been forced to use a thesaurus to find new ways of describing their pathetic behavior: weak, impotent, pitiful, feeble and toothless. Last night, they again folded completely and passed the Senate’s version of the Obama-McConnell tax deal-as is-even though only a week earlier the House Democratic Caucus voted to reject the deal. This tax deal can be added to the list of Legislation, ...

Unhappy union leaders get their turn with Obama
WASHINGTON — Two days after business executives had their turn at the White House, President Obama met with union leaders fuming about his decision to extend the George W. Bush-era Tax Cuts for wealthy Americans. Union officials declined to offer much in the way of details about the talks, but the White House has been concerned about the harsh criticism from union leaders, and the meeting was seen as an effort to get the relationship back on track. “We had a good conversation with P...