Monday Open Thread

Obama tax deal gets nod from Senate. Will House risk making changes?
Senators vote to end debate on GOP-Obama tax deal, clearing the way for its passage. Attention now shifts to the House, where Liberal Democrats are expected to discuss revisions. President Barack Obama speaks at the White House on Monday, in Washington. The Obama tax deal has been approved by the Senate, but Liberal Democrats in the House have to decide if they want to revise the bill. In a break with gridlock, the Senate voted 83 to 15 Monday to move ahead with a Bipartisan deal ­- f...

Obama applauds Senate test vote on tax cut plan
(12-13) 14:45 PST WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama is praising a test vote in the Senate supporting the Compromise tax plan he negotiated with Republicans. He says it proves both parties can work together. The president spoke at the White House on Monday after the Senate surpassed the 60-vote threshold it needed to advance the Legislation toward final passage. A vote that would send the proposal to the House is expected Tuesday. Obama says the plan would help create jobs by providing ...

Obama applauds Senate test vote on tax cut plan
President Barack Obama is praising a test vote in the Senate supporting the Compromise tax plan he negotiated with Republicans. He says it proves both parties can work together. The president spoke at the White House on Monday after the Senate surpassed the 60-vote threshold it needed to advance the Legislation toward final passage. A vote that would send the proposal to the House is expected Tuesday. Obama says the plan would help create jobs by providing 13 months of jobless benefits to the un...

Tax deal clears key Senate hurdle
WASHINGTON (CNN) - The hotly contested tax deal negotiated by President Barack Obama and Republican leaders cleared a key Senate procedural hurdle Monday, with both parties strongly supporting a motion to end debate on the measure. Final Senate approval could come as early as Tuesday on the package that includes extending for two years the Bush-era Tax Cuts set to expire December 31, as well as extending Unemployment Benefits for 13 months, cutting the Payroll Tax by 2 percentage points for a ye...

Senate Now Voting to Cut Off Debate on Tax Deal
The Senate is now voting to end to debate on the Tax Cut package negotiated by the White House and Republicans and the roll call is expected to last a while. Senators returning to Washington from the West Coast typically do not reach the Capitol until the later afternoon or early evening, and the Majority Leader, Harry Reid of Nevada, agreed to hold the vote open until everyone gets back. Although this is not the vote on final passage of the bill, attendance is crucial. To cut off debate and ...

Obama-Republican Deal Could Mean Tax Hike For One In Three Workers
WASHINGTON - The tax deal reached between President Obama and congressional Republicans could mean a higher tax bill for roughly one in three workers as a result of the Social Security Tax Cut Republicans pushed as a replacement for the current Making Work Pay Tax Credit. The Making Work Pay credit gives workers up to $400, paid out at 8 percent of income, meaning that anybody making at least $5,000 gets the full amount -- and gets as much as anybody else. Its replacement knocks two percentag...

With $900 Billion in Tax Cuts, Many Working Americans Will Still See Taxes Rise
According to the Huffington Post, because of the structure of the nearly $900 billion Obama-McConnell tax deal, roughly a third of all workers will actually see their taxes increase next year. How anyone can defend this deal as smart politics for Obama is beyond me. From Ryan Grim: The tax deal reached between President Obama and congressional Republicans could mean a higher tax bill for roughly one in three workers as a result of the Social Security Tax Cut Republicans pushed as a replacement...

Obama: Senate Tax Cut Vote 'Proves Both Parties Can Work Together'
President Obama urged the House to take up the Tax Cut Compromise on its way to approval in the Senate today, and said that the success of the Controversial plan to extend all the Bush tax cuts as well as Unemployment Insurance is an example of Bipartisan success. "This proves that both parties can, in fact, work together to grow our economy and look out for the American People," Obama said. Though voting was underway in the Senate when he spoke, more than 70 Senators had voted in favor of clo...

Tax-cut deal clears big hurdle in Senate
In an overwhelming Bipartisan vote, the Senate on Monday cleared a path for the tax-cut deal President Obama struck with congressional Republicans last week, with even former staunch opponents of the Bush-era Tax Cuts voting for their extension. The 83-15 vote ends a Filibuster attempt by Liberal Democrats and gives a boost to the deal ahead of an expected showdown in the House this week, where Democratic leaders have said they will try to alter the $857 billion package. "This proves that both p...

Senate Moves Ahead on the Tax Deal (Updated)
The Senate is taking its first step to preserve the Bush-era Tax Cuts — and extend Unemployment Benefits for millions. At least 62 senators have voted to start debating the bill that keeps Tax Cuts in place for the Middle Class and the wealthiest Americans, meaning the measure will not be filibustered. The bill also cuts inheritance taxes and ensures emergency Unemployment relief will last another 13 months. It also includes a 2% tax holiday on Social Security Payroll taxes, and would ad...

Obama takes credit for compromise (Politico)
President Barack Obama reprised his defense of his Tax Cut Compromise with Republicans in his weekly address on Saturday, arguing that the fate of Middle Class families — and the still-fragile Economic Recovery — is at stake as lawmakers consider the proposal. “The opportunity for families to send their kids to college hinges on this debate,” Obama said. “And our recovery will be strengthened or weakened based on the choice that now rests with Congress.” The...

Obama: Tax deal 'by no means perfect'
President Barack Obama at the White House in Washington, Dec. 8, 2010. UPI/Dennis Brack/POOL WASHINGTON, Dec. 11 (UPI) -- U.S. President Barack Obama Saturday urged Congress to adopt the Compromise tax plan he reached with Republicans, even though it is "by no means perfect." In his weekly radio and Internet address, the president said if Congress doesn't act on extending Tax Rates enacted early in the administration of former President George W. Bush, "tax rates will automatically go up for jus...

Pass tax cut or we will all pay more: Obama to Dems
President Obama Saturday called on Democratic lawmakers to pass a Republican-backed tax-cut deal, telling them it would keep America's recovery on track. In his weekly radio address, the President said without the proposal's approval, more than 1 million jobs could be lost nationwide and families would face tax hikes in the new year. "If Congress doesn't act, Tax Rates will automatically go up for just about everyone in our country," he said yesterday. "That's unacceptable to me." The deal ext...

In Tax Benefits to the Middle, Political Lift for Obama
WASHINGTON — With the Senate poised to hold a key vote on Monday on the Tax Cut deal between President Obama and Republicans, the political jousting has focused on what the agreement does for the wealthy by extending all of the Bush-era Tax Rates, and for the unemployed, by continuing jobless aid. Representative Chris Van Hollen, left, represented House Democrats in Debates on the tax deal. The latest on President Obama, the new Congress and other news from Washington and around the nati...

First Senate vote expected on Obama-GOP tax deal
(12-13) 07:42 PST WASHINGTON (AP) -- House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer says the House will follow the Senate in taking up the tax-cut deal worked out by President Barack Obama and Republicans, but that House Democrats unhappy with the Compromise will get a chance to amend it. Hoyer says there was "much consternation" in the House over the deal because it extends Tax Cuts for the wealthy and gives breaks to those facing estate taxes. He suggested possible amendments could address the Estate Tax...

TEA Party Uprising
Tea Party supporters are not happy with the so-called 'tax deal' moving forward in Congress nor are they happy with the current Republicans who support it.  TEA Party uprising: Conservatives aligned with the Tea Party ramped up pressure Monday on Republicans to vote down the tax deal before Congress. ... "The idea that this massive tax and spend bill has not yet even been written but may be voted on by the Senate this weekend is appalling, and has rightfully drawn the anger...

The Tax Deal's Popularity, Ctd
A reader writes: I’m a progressive Democrat and I am bewildered, appalled and exasperated by the reaction of most of my political cohort to the tax deal. My reasons are partly strategic, along the lines of your observations that it’s far better for Obama than what could have been expected and gooses The Economy leading up to 2012. But my main concern is that all these Democrats (and Bernie Sanders), who profess to care about the Middle Class and unemployed (and, in my experience, truly do)...

Most Americans Support Tax Deal, New Polls Say
As Congress nears a vote on the Tax Cut deal reached between President Obama and Republicans, two new polls out today find Americans broadly supportive of the plan, including majorities of Republicans, Independents and Democrats alike. Nearly 7 in 10 Americans in an ABC News/Washington Post poll said they support the package, which the poll noted would include extending the Bush-era tax cuts and Unemployment Benefits, cutting Social Security Payroll taxes by 2 percentage points and increasing t...

The Senate Votes to Move Forward on the Tax Bill
By a Bipartisan majority of 83-15, the Senate today voted to move forward on the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization and Job Creation Act (S.Amdt. 4753). While acknowledging that people on both sides of the political spectrum are unhappy with certain parts of the package, President Obama praised the Senate for working together to move forward with a measure that would benefit our country as a whole: It is a substantial victory for middle-class families across the country who would...

Tax Cut Deal Wildly Popular
Mon Dec. 13, 2010 10:16 AM PST ABC News and the Washington Post have the first poll out about public reaction to the Obama Tax Cut deal. ABC created a colorful chart of the results, so I'll link to them: Support for the overall package was extremely high: 68% among Democrats and Independents and 75% among Republicans. But the breakdown in the chart above ought to give all of us lefties pause. It's great to see that extending Unemployment Benefits polled higher than any other element of the plan...

Obama Urges Congress To Pass Tax Deal
President Barack Obama answers questions on his Compromise on Tax Cuts, Unemployment Insurance and jobs on Tuesday at the White House. (Chuck Kennedy / White House) (NewsCore) - President Barack Obama used his weekly address Saturday to urge Congress to pass the tax cut deal he negotiated with Republicans ahead of a Jan. 1 deadline and amid opposition from some of his most stalwart supporters. "We hammered out a deal that reflects ideas from both sides. It wasn't easy, and it's by no means perfe...

Payroll tax cut worries Social Security advocates (AP)
WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama's plan to cut Payroll taxes for a year would provide big savings for many workers, but makes Social Security advocates nervous that it could jeopardize the Retirement program's finances. The plan is part of a package of Tax Cuts and extended Unemployment Benefits that Obama negotiated with Senate Republican leaders. It would cut workers' share of Social Security taxes by nearly one-third for 2011. Workers making $50,000 in wages would get a $1,000 tax ...

Tax plan to hit Mass. wallets
The political battle still raging in Washington over Tax Cuts could have a dramatic effect on Bay State billfolds no matter how it is resolved, local experts said. Beacon Hill Institute boss David Tuerck noted that the Bay State economy relies heavily on high-tech investment, which theoretically will be fueled by maintaining the tax cuts. “It’s important for taxes to be kept low and to be kept low with predictability going into the future,” Tuerck said. But it isn’t as m...

Come Saturday Morning: Reasons to Fight the Obama/GOP Poor Tax
Why should we be melting down our phones telling our Senators and Congresscritters “Hell NO!” on this turkey? Let us count the reasons: - The poorer you are, the more of your disposable income you’re prone to spend. The richer you are, the more likely you are to sock it away somewhere. This is why a stimulus that mainly benefits the poor is far better for The Economy as a whole than one that mainly benefits the rich. Yet the Tax Cut framework actually forces poor people...

Tax-Cut Thing Passes Senate, Moves On To China For Approval
After much talking, balking, and sulking, the Obama-Republican tax-cut package has passed the Senate by a vote of 69 to 10. So it looks like everything in the next two years will be passed by a refreshing, broad consensus, and all it takes is Democrats pretty much giving up all their ground on each issue. It is truly a new era, all thanks to Republicans whining until they got what they wanted and many buckets full of tears shed by John Boehner in the process. Since this passed the Senate, the We...