Raiding Social Security?

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...

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 ...

Social Security Advocates Fear Payroll Tax Cut
Like this Story? Share it: (AP) 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 Mr. 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 ge...

Tax deal clears key hurdle - next up is Senate vote
Final Senate approval could come as early as Tuesday on the hotly contested tax deal negotiated by President Barack Obama and Republican leaders. The deal cleared a key procedural hurdle Monday, with an 83-15 vote to end Senate debate on the measure, which includes a two-year extension of the Bush-era Tax Cuts set to expire December 31. The plan would also extend Unemployment Benefits for 13 months, cut the Payroll Tax by 2 percentage points for a year and continue a series of other Tax Breaks....

Truth and Tax Cuts
But, back to the Senate Bill which proposes to extend the tax give-aways to the wealthiest. It provides for the beginning of the gutting of Social Security by reducing our contribution to our own retirements by 2%. This will "help us" by eventually making us dependent upon non-existent government welfare instead of our own Social Security benefits. This bill will be "good for The Economy" by putting more money in the hands of the rich who spend nothing to help us and will put us a Trillion or...

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-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...

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...

Medicare and Social Security advocates nervous about tax cut deal
Medicare and Social Security advocates worry that entitlements face restructuring under the new deal brokered between President Obama and the GOP....

Tax-Cut Compromise Clears Senate Hurdle; Vote Expected This Week
Despite the objections of Liberals and some Conservatives, the Senate voted 67 to 9 Monday to begin the final debate on the tax-cut Compromise struck between President Obama and Republican leaders last week. Because of inclement weather in the Midwest, senators were still trickling in to cast votes even after the bill won the Cloture vote. Among the no votes were Sens. Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.), Russ Feingold (D-Wis.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Mark Udall (D-Colo.), Sherr...

May I Sell Out, Please?
Here's a shocker: Fearless progressive blogger Kevin Drum can't buy into Barack Obama's tax sell-out fast enough. Why? Well, because it's popular: 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, but not so great that Bonus ta...

America Backs Tax Package, Though the Stuff Inside It, Not So Much
Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images According to a Washington Post/ABC News poll, a whopping 69 percent of Americans approve of the tax-cut deal hashed out between President Obama and GOP leaders. But only 11 percent approve of all four of its main components (extending all Bush Tax Cuts, extending Unemployment Insurance, lowering Payroll taxes, and a 35 percent inheritance tax for estates $5 million and up), and only 38 percent approved of even two of them. In other words, America, like Pres...

Nadler: On Taxes GOP Are a Bunch of Gangsters
Like this Story? Share it: Congressman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) and former Governor Howard Dean (D-VT) gave Bob Schieffer their stance on the nature in Washington, D.C. as President Obama's tax deal approaches reform. Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., on "Face the Nation," Sunday, Dec. 12, 2010. (CBS) (CBS) Progressive Democrats today blasted the framework of a tax agreement negotiated between President Barack Obama and Republican congressional leaders, calling it the product of "Republican Blackmail."...

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...

GOP makes a cash grab
President Obama should be commended for fighting to include additional Tax Cuts for working Americans during negotiations with congressional Republicans over the approaching expiration of the Bush tax cuts. Giving struggling American families extra spending money will provide our economy with a desperately needed boost. Yet, one method by which the Compromise tax bill provides American workers with $120 billion in tax relief reveals an ulterior motive on the part of Republican negotiators. Inste...

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

Social Security advocates fear payroll tax cut
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 woul...

Social Security advocates fear payroll tax cut (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 c...

House Democrats won't stop tax cut deal
Maryland Democrat Chris Van Hollen, incoming ranking member of the House Budget Committee, signaled that House Democrats will not stop the tax deal worked out between the White House, Republicans and Senate Democrats.  Just last week, the Democratic Caucus in the House of Representatives passed a nonbinding resolution expressing their Disapproval with the Tax Cut deal, citing the extension of tax cuts for upper income earners and adjustments to the Estate Tax. Additionally, House Democrats ...

Two New Polls Show Broad Public Support for Tax Cut Deal
Despite unhappiness among some on the right and left in both political parties about aspects of the deal to extend the Bush-era Tax Cuts, two new polls show there is broad Bipartisan support among the public for the agreement negotiated between President Obama and Senate Republicans. A Pew Research Center survey conducted Dec. 9-12 said 60 percent of Americans approve of the deal, which extends the tax cuts for all Americans including high-income earners as well as extending Unemployment benefit...

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...

Monday Open Thread
hat tip:Blackwaterdog More about that really bad deal the “Negotiator in Chief” brought for the Middle Class and the unemployed (Did you notice that we hear from Mr. Weiner mostly when there’s something to whine about, preferably against the president? It sure does bring him a lot of TV appearances). Anyway, the graph present the entire horror: The breakdown: 53.1% Middle Class AMT (OBAMA) 3.3% Expensing Provision (OBAMA) 4.2% Tax Credits for Working Families (OBAMA) 6.2% Unemployment In

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...

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 ...

Poll finds broad bipartisan support for tax package
About seven in 10 Americans back the tax deal negotiated last week by President Obama and congressional Republicans, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll. This Story Tax deal angers right as well as left Poll finds broad Bipartisan support for tax package Washington Post-ABC News poll data In political gamble, Reid seeks votes that are sure to fail Senate having trouble 'doing business in the modern era' View All Items in This Story View Only Top Items in This Story The high bipar...