Obama signs tax-cut bill in White House ceremony - Glenn Thrush and Abby Phillip

Obama Signs Tax Deal Into Law- Democratic Leaders Skip Signing Ceremony
The tax deal Barack Obama negotiated with Congressional Republicans, opposed by liberals across the media and blogosphere passed the Senate in one of the rare Bipartisan votes with 81 to 19, then passed the House of Representatives after liberals tried and failed to change the deal, was signed into law by Barack Obama today. Missing from the signing ceremony were top Democratic leaders, the Speaker of the House (Until January when John Boehner is expected to take the gavel), second in command ...

Obama Signs Tax Cut Bill
Politico reports: President Barack Obama celebrated the spirit of Compromise Friday as he signed a Controversial $858 billion Tax Cut and Unemployment Insurance extension into law — but warned that Bipartisan comity could be fleeting. The bill, the result of a deal Obama cut with Senate Republicans over the objections of many Democrats, was a major victory for a White House that spent much of the past two years battling a unified GOP on the stimulus and Health Care reform. “We are here...

Obama Signs Tax Cut Bill
Politico reports: President Barack Obama celebrated the spirit of Compromise Friday as he signed a Controversial $858 billion Tax Cut and Unemployment Insurance extension into law — but warned that Bipartisan comity could be fleeting. The bill, the result of a deal Obama cut with Senate Republicans over the objections of many Democrats, was a major victory for a White House that spent much of the past two years battling a unified GOP on the stimulus and Health Care reform. “We are here...

President Barack Obama Signs Tax Cut Extension into Law at WH Ceremoy Pelosi, Reid & Boehner No Show
President Barack Obama has his George H.W. Bush moment … “Read My Lips, No New Tax Cuts for the Rich” Yesterday, Barack Obama signed the Bush era tax extensions and called it Compromise. However, noticeably absent from the tax cut extension signing ceremonies were Democrat Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Democrat Speaker of the Lame Duck House Nancy Pelosi and Republican Speaker of the House elect John Boehner. In the end, the tax extension bill was one that no one like...

Analysis: With tax bill, Dems pick political fight
WASHINGTON (AP) - In the year-end tax debate of 2010, President Barack Obama got the economic stimulus he sought while Democrats in Congress settled for picking a political fight. Far more quietly, Republicans pocketed a two-year extension of George W. Bush-era Tax Cuts at all income levels and a sweetened Estate Tax to go with it, without having to swallow billions in Public Works spending that would have inflamed their Tea Party supporters. By the time Obama had signed the bill on Friday, he...

2010 in Review for President Obama (ContributorNetwork)
President Obama had an up and down year for 2010, fairly typical for American politics. Obama's second year in office started out by challenging those in the chamber to keep America moving forward. It ended with Obama following his own advice and compromising with Republicans who initially opposed his major initiatives. Here's a look at the year Obama had from State of the Union to a unlikely union with the GOP. Jan. 27, 2010: State of the Union President Obama gave his State of the U...

Analysis: With tax bill, Dems pick political fight (AP)
WASHINGTON – In the year-end tax debate of 2010, President Barack Obama got the economic stimulus he sought while Democrats in Congress settled for picking a political fight. Far more quietly, Republicans pocketed a two-year extension of George W. Bush-era Tax Cuts at all income levels and a sweetened Estate Tax to go with it, without having to swallow billions in Public Works spending that would have inflamed their Tea Party supporters. By the time Obama had signed the bill on Friday, h...

Obama signs tax compromise and Senate continues working
On Friday President Obama signed his tax Compromise bill into law, and on Saturday the Senate postponed their holiday recess and returned to work to take up Don't Ask, Don't Tell and the DREAM Act. Despite Democratic opposition, both the House and the Senate voted in favor of Legislation that extends Tax Cuts for all Americans, including wealthy American individuals earning over $200,000 a year and families earning over $250,000 a year.  The bill also angered Democrats because of the estate...

The politics of a compromise
(CNN) - Both parties touted the passage of the Bipartisan tax deal signed into law Friday in their weekly Internet and radio addresses, but their description of the process shows party divides are still alive and well. The Compromise, which passed in the Senate and House, was the result of negotiations between both parties and the White House that came together after Republicans made significant gains in both chambers, winning the majority in the new House. Representing the GOP, Sen. John Cornyn...

Analysis: With tax bill, Dems pick political fight
WASHINGTON (AP) — In the year-end tax debate of 2010, President Barack Obama got the economic stimulus he sought while Democrats in Congress settled for picking a political fight. Far more quietly, Republicans pocketed a two-year extension of George W. Bush-era Tax Cuts at all income levels and a sweetened Estate Tax to go with it, without having to swallow billions in Public Works spending that would have inflamed their Tea Party supporters. By the time Obama had signed the bill on Friday...

News Analysis - With Stroke of Pen, a New Chapter for Obama
WASHINGTON — With the stroke of a pen, President Obama on Friday enacted the largest Tax Cut in nearly a decade and, in the process, took a big step toward reinventing himself as a champion of Compromise in a politically fractured capital. The latest on President Obama, the new Congress and other news from Washington and around the nation. Join the discussion. When he first struck the deal two weeks ago, a sour Mr. Obama announced it by himself, lamented his own agreement and testily deno...

White House On DREAM Act: It's 'Incredibly Disappointing'
The White House released the following statement on the failure of the DREAM Act in the Senate today. In an incredibly disappointing vote today, a minority of Senators prevented the Senate from doing what most Americans understand is best for the country. As I said last week, when the House passed the DREAM Act, it is not only the right thing to do for talented Young People who seek to serve a country they know as their own, it is the right thing for the United States of America. Our nation is...

Obama Pushes for START Ratification
(WASHINGTON) — Senate failure to ratify a new Arms Control treaty with Russia threatens to undermine the U.S. relationship with Moscow and stall progress in waging the Afghanistan war and confronting Iran's Nuclear Program, President Barack Obama said Saturday. Obama used his weekly radio and Internet address Saturday to plead with the Senate to approve the accord in the waning days of Congress' postelection session. "Ratifying a treaty like START isn't about winning a victory for an admi...

Obama Pushes for START Ratification
(WASHINGTON) — Senate failure to ratify a new Arms Control treaty with Russia threatens to undermine the U.S. relationship with Moscow and stall progress in waging the Afghanistan war and confronting Iran's Nuclear Program, President Barack Obama said Saturday. Obama used his weekly radio and Internet address Saturday to plead with the Senate to approve the accord in the waning days of Congress' postelection session. "Ratifying a treaty like START isn't about winning a victory for an admi...

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...

Obama Signs Tax Cut Bill, Partisan Debate Rages On
President Barack Obama, joined by Republican and Democratic lawmakers, signs the Bipartisan tax package that extends Tax Cuts for families at all income levels, during a signing ceremony at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in the White House complex, Friday, Dec. 17, 2010. (AP) WASHINGTON -- As President Obama signed into law Friday the massive Bipartisan tax package that delighted most Republicans but divided his own party, the debate over its implications raged on. Obama found himself ...

Obama Signs Tax Cut Bill, Partisan Debate Rages On
President Barack Obama, joined by Republican and Democratic lawmakers, signs the Bipartisan tax package that extends Tax Cuts for families at all income levels, during a signing ceremony at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in the White House complex, Friday, Dec. 17, 2010. (AP) WASHINGTON -- As President Obama signed into law Friday the massive Bipartisan tax package that delighted most Republicans but divided his own party, the debate over its implications raged on. Obama found himself ...

Obama Urges START Ratification
(NewsCore) - US President Barack Obama used his weekly address Saturday to urge senators to ratify the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) with Russia before Congress breaks for the Holiday Season. Speaking a day after he signed into law an extension of wide-ranging Tax Cuts passed by his predecessor, George W. Bush, Obama said he hoped senators could put aside their political differences to "come together on another urgent national priority." He said the new START Treaty "will reduce the wo...

The drive-by media shoots hard and fast (and falsely) *UPDATED*
Those evil Republicans, who are, of course, a minority in the Lame Duck Senate. On the Democrat side, Sens. Jon Tester of Montana, Max Baucus of Montana, Ben Nelson of Nebraska, Mark Pyror of Arkansas, and Kay Hagan of North Carolina voted against the bill. UPDATE : Forgot to note that Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia — who faces another election in 2012, and won this year by positioning himself to the right of many Democrats  (including running an ad in which he shot the ...

Obama Approves Bush-era Tax Cut Extension
WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama on Friday afternoon signed into law a two-year-across-the-board extension of Bush-era Tax Cuts, just one day after the House approved the Legislation. The bill includes a 2% rollback of Social Security Payroll taxes; extends Unemployment Insurance for 13 months; and brings back the estate tax at 35% for two years on estates of more than $5 million. It ensures that Tax Rates won't rise on virtually all Americans on Jan. 1. "We are here with some good news for ...

GOP blocks path to citizenship for young illegal immigrants
WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Republicans on Saturday doomed an effort that would have given hundreds of thousands of young Illegal Immigrants a path to legal status if they enrolled in college or joined the Military. Sponsors of the DREAM Act fell five votes short of the 60 they needed to break through largely GOP opposition and win its enactment before Republicans take over the House and narrow Democrats' majority in the Senate next month. President Barack Obama called the vote "incredibly d...

Obama: DREAM Act vote 'incredibly disappointing'
President Obama blasted the Senate today for an "incredibly disappointing" decision to block a proposal that would have given Children brought to the U.S. illegally a chance at residency if they attend college or serve in the Military. "The DREAM Act is important to our economic competitiveness, military readiness, and Law Enforcement efforts," Obama said in a statement. Obama also vowed to continue working for the DREAM Act in the future. The statement: In an incredibly disappointing vote toda...

White House Weekly Address: Obama Invokes Reagan to Push START Treaty
Instead of trying to reduce Russia's Nuclear Arsenal, I think we should direct all of our energy to making sure Iran doesn't get one.. Reuters Fresh from a shared victory on an $858 billion tax-cut package, President Barack Obama pushed on Saturday for congressional approval of the new START nuclear arms treaty with Russia. Obama invoked the late Republican President Ronald Reagan as he used his weekly radio address to urge Bipartisan support for the treaty. Obama said it was crucial to put a ...

Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Advances In Senate
The Senate took a big step toward ending the Military's ban on Openly Gay servicemembers today. By a vote of 63 to 33, the Senate voted to end debate on a bill repealing the Military's Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy, opening the door for a final Senate vote on the standalone Repeal bill passed by the House Tuesday. That means a simple majority of 51 Senators can now bring the legislative fight on repealing DADT to an end. That vote is expected to come -- and expected to succeed -- by the end of ...

Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Advances In Senate — Final Vote Likely This Weekend
The Senate took a big step toward ending the Military's ban on Openly Gay servicemembers today. By a vote of 63 to 33, the Senate voted to end debate on a bill repealing the Military's Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy. The move opens the door for a final Senate vote on the standalone Repeal bill passed by the House Tuesday. That means a simple majority of 51 Senators can now bring the legislative fight on repealing DADT to an end. That vote is expected to come — and expected to succeed &mdas...;