It's a Wrap - Congress Passes Tax Cuts

Last Call
And here's President Obama's reward for working with the Republicans on that Tax Cut deal. The $858 billion tax deal approved by Congress Thursday is "all candy and no spinach," but at least it shows that President Barack Obama and Republicans can cooperate on fiscal issues. But their new detente will be tested early next year when the Budget Deficit looms larger on the political landscape. Analysts are skeptical this week's pact can be leveraged into a broad deficit-cutting program, and fear th...

Nancy Pelosi: A Ruler of Fools
Nancy Pelosi doesn't have much longer as Speaker of the House. But if there's one constant in our ever-changing world, it's that Pelosi will remain unconscionable until the gavel is wrested from her hand. During a recent Speech on the House floor, she expressed opinions about Unemployment Insurance and tax policy that seem irrational even for her. Pelosi supports extending Unemployment Insurance beyond the current 99-week limit. To substantiate her position, she touted Unemployment Benefits as a...

Pelosi: Tax Cut Legislation Gives Middle-Income Families Fairness and the Economic Opportunity to Create Jobs - Rep. Pelosi
Washington, D.C. – Speaker Nancy Pelosi spoke on the House floor this afternoon in support of the Middle Class Tax Relief Act of 2010, which passed the House by a Bipartisan vote of 234 to 188. Below are the Speaker’s remarks. “Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I thank the gentleman [Mr. Levin] for yielding. I commend him for his great leadership in terms of working and being a champion for America’s Working Families, for America’s middle-income families who need so...

Meet your new Republican overlords
On Thursday, the House took up the International Protecting Girls by Preventing Child Marriage Act of 2010. The bill would ensure that child marriage is recognized as a Human Rights violation, and develop comprehensive strategies to prevent such marriages around the world. The Legislation seemed likely to garner strong Bipartisan support in Congress, and in the Senate, it did. But last night, the bill was voted down in the House by Republicans who argued the bill is too costly and could lead to ...

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 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...

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 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...

Tangled tongues still twisting the truth
Democrats have been against the Bush Tax Cuts ever since they were first enacted and not just the Tax Cuts for the rich but all of them. Suddenly the extension of the tax cuts, including for the rich, is a boost for The Economy and a win for Obama, embracing supply-side economics (without naming it as such) dancing around their own Yuletide campfire with whoops of joy over the passage of yet another stimulus (their words) bill. They cannot have it both ways. They continue to trip over their own ...

Obama Seals the Tax-Cut Deal
President Barack Obama this afternoon signed into law the $858 billion tax-cut bill that he negotiated with Republicans earlier this month. Compared with Obama’s previous signing ceremonies for major Legislation, it was a subdued affair. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi wasn’t standing by the president’s side with a big smile on her face—in fact, the San Francisco Democrat wasn’t even at the signing, which was held at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, not the White House. S

Extension of jobless benefits affects about 17,000 Rhode Islanders
PAWTUCKET — Legislation signed into law by President Obama on Friday will extend federal Unemployment Benefits for thousands of out-of-work Rhode Islanders. Congress last month let lapse some key federal benefit programs. As a consequence, the maximum amount of time that an unemployed Rhode Islander could collect jobless benefits was cut by up to 53 weeks. But a far-reaching tax bill, approved overnight by the House and signed Friday afternoon by Mr. Obama, includes a 13-month extension of...

The Government Has Lost Focus
Mudrake wrote a good one. Unpopular wars and deep Tax Cuts with an Unemployment Rate near 10 percent. And an already massive National Debt as well as a non-functional Congress. What has world history taught us about the consequences of such a combination of colliding events? It sounds pretty bad, eh? What's your opinion? Please leave a comment. ...

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 ...

Four House members from Va. voted against tax compromise
Four members of Virginia's House delegation — two Democrats and two Republicans — voted against the tax-cut Compromise late Thursday night. Voting against the package were Reps. Robert C. "Bobby" Scott, D-3rd; J. Randy Forbes, R-4th; James P. Moran, D-8th; and Frank R. Wolf, R-10th. The seven Virginia House members voting in favor of the measure were Reps. Robert J. Wittman, R-1st; Glenn Nye, D-2nd; Tom Perriello, D-5th; Robert W. Goodlatte, R-6th; Eric Cantor, R-7th; Rick Boucher, D...

Cincinnati City Council to sell Sanitation Department
Last night December 16th, 2010, the Cincinnati Branch NAACP in its monthly Executive Committee (Board) meeting discussed a wide range of issues. Amongst those issues were the streetcars and the Sanitation Department . They have voted unanimously condemning Cincinnati City Council in its effort to the sell Sanitation Department. It is believed that the City Council is on a fast to sell Cincinnati’s entire Sanitation Department. The idea of selling the Sanitation Department is extremely p...

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...

Obama keeps Bush's vast tax cuts for wealthy
President Barack Obama last night signed into law a sweeping $858bn (£554bn) tax bill that ensures tax-rate cuts introduced by former President George Bush nearly a decade ago will remain in place for another two years, offering a potentially powerful fillip to the flat US economy. The passage of the law on Capitol Hill was the most dramatic evidence yet that Bipartisan Compromise has been unexpectedly resurrected in the weeks after November's Midterm Elections. The deal was largely the one s...

Bipartisan Support Building Around Three Changes To Senate Rules In New Congress
WASHINGTON -- Senate Democrats met for their second Caucus meeting about reforming chamber rules Friday, beginning to converge on three changes that supporters hope will increase transparency and prevent a small minority from blocking an up-or-down vote on measures. "This is a two-step process," Sen. Tom Udall (D-N.M.), one of the leaders of the effort, told The Huffington Post in an interview after the Caucus meeting. "The first step is that we need to recognize that under the Constitution, w...

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 applauds bipartisan cooperation as he signs tax cut deal
• Extends Bush-era Tax Cuts on income, capital gains and dividends for all Americans for two years. • Extends Unemployment Benefits for 13 months for the long-term unemployed. • Cuts Social Security Payroll taxes 2 percentage points for a year. • Caps the top Estate Tax rate at 35 percent for next year, after an exemption of $5 million per person. WASHINGTON • With an end-of-year deadline bearing down on them both, President Barack Obama and Senate Republican Leader...

How The New Tax Law Will Affect You
The average Taxpayer will save $3000 in 2011 because of the new tax law. But many families will be able to save much more by taking advantage of Tax Breaks for being married, having Children, paying for child care, going to college or investing in securities. There are even Tax Breaks for paying local sales taxes and using Mass Transit, and a new Social Security Tax Cut for nearly every worker who earns a wage. … The law extends most of the tax cuts for two years, including lower rates f...

Senate nears repeal of military's curbs on gays (AP)
WASHINGTON – Congress is one step away from ending the ban on gays serving openly in the Military, with the Senate ready for a landmark vote that could deliver a major victory to the Homosexual community, liberals and President Barack Obama. Senators planned a procedural vote Saturday on a bill ending the Pentagon's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy as lawmakers held an unusual weekend session in their race to finish the year's legislative business. If at least 60 senators vote to advance t...

Extension of jobless benefits affects about 17,000 Rhode Islanders
PAWTUCKET — Legislation signed into law by President Obama on Friday will extend federal Unemployment Benefits for thousands of out-of-work Rhode Islanders. Congress last month let lapse some key federal benefit programs. As a consequence, the maximum amount of time that an unemployed Rhode Islander could collect jobless benefits was cut by up to 53 weeks. But a far-reaching tax bill, approved overnight by the House and signed Friday afternoon by Mr. Obama, includes a 13-month extension of...

Tax Cut Deal May Bring Republicans To Center
Bipartisan Compromise on a Tax Cut deal will engender future Bipartisan Compromise on Spending programs, but expect the fights to get really, really ugly between Republicans and Democrats. That would be because there's a Limit on the Debt ceiling that's set to run out in the next few months, and the Tax Cut deal Cuts that margin by another month, according to the Wall Street Journal. In order for the government to continue administering programs and pay its bills, the two parties will have to come to an

Down The Road To Decline
Commentary By Ron Beasley Congress Sends $801 Billion Tax Cut Bill to Obama and he signs it.  Well what does the man who sold us Supply Side Economics over 30 years ago think of it?  Not Much! You will notice that while he blames the politicians he blames the FED and Wall Street even more.   The FED has engineered a serial bubble that has created the illusion of wealth by encouraging the Wall Street casino.  He says that the original Bush Tax Cuts were a 10 billio...