With $900 Billion in Tax Cuts, Many Working Americans Will Still See Taxes Rise

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...

Moodys Raises Specter of U.S. Downgrade After Tax Cut Deal
Pragmatism! Moody’s Investors Service, a leading credit Rating Agency, warned in a report on Monday that the Tax Cut Compromise could imperil the U.S. government’s top Aaa rating, though a downgrade remains highly unlikely. The Moody’s report pointed to provisions such as a temporary Payroll Tax holiday and extensions of Unemployment Insurance and the Bush-era tax cuts as likely to produce “substantially higher Budget Deficits,” even Accounting for an expected boo...

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 ...

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...

New Mexico senators split as tax-cut deal passes Senate test
The Tax Cut deal which includes extending tax cuts for Americans making more than $250,000 a year is still going on right now due to inclement weather across the country but it already has more than enough votes to pass. The deal passed the Senate 83-15. Among those who voted against invoking Cloture, or ending debate and allowing a final up-and-down vote on the bill, is New Mexico’s senior senator, Jeff Bingaman. Sen. Tom Udall voted to invoke cloture on the deal made between the White Ho...

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...

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 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....

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 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...

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...

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...

Deficit Fraud Romney: Jobless Benefits Are Too Expensive, But The Bush Tax Cuts Increase Revenue
Yesterday, the Senate approved the tax deal that President Obama negotiated with Congressional Republicans by an 83-15 vote. The Legislation now moves to the House, where Democrats are saying that they might tinker with the Estate Tax cut that Republicans are insisting upon. But it isn’t only on the left that opposition to the deal exists. A few House Republicans have disparaged the deal for including too few Tax Cuts and too much help for the jobless. In a USA Today op-ed today, former ...

Poll: Broad bipartisan backing for tax package
WASHINGTON — About seven in 10 Americans back the tax deal negotiated last week by President Barack Obama and congressional Republicans, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll. The high Bipartisan support for the package masks more tepid public approval for some of the main components of the deal that came before a key Senate vote Monday afternoon. A slender 11 percent of those polled back all four of the deal's primary tax provisions: an across-the-board extension of Bush-era ta...

Larry Summers: Tax cut plan will add consumer purchasing
WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama’s top economic adviser says targeted Tax Cuts, more exports and greater spending will help reverse a lack of consumer demand that threatens to constrain The Economy "now and for the next several years." Lawrence Summers, in his swan song Speech as head of President Barack Obama’s National Economic Council, said the tax cut plan negotiated with the president and Senate Republicans "averts what could have been a serious collapse in purchasing ...

Summers: Tax cut plan will add consumer purchasing
President Barack Obama's top economic adviser says targeted Tax Cuts, more exports and greater spending will help reverse a lack of consumer demand that threatens to constrain The Economy "now and for the next several years." Lawrence Summers, in his swan song Speech as head of President Barack Obama's National Economic Council, said the tax cut plan negotiated with the president and Senate Republicans "averts what could have been a serious collapse in Purchasing Power." "And it adds far more fi...

Summers: Tax cut plan will add consumer purchasing (AP)
WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama's top economic adviser says targeted Tax Cuts, more exports and greater spending will help reverse a lack of consumer demand that threatens to constrain The Economy "now and for the next several years." Lawrence Summers, in his swan song Speech as head of President Barack Obama's National Economic Council, said the tax cut plan negotiated with the president and Senate Republicans "averts what could have been a serious collapse in Purchasing Power." "An...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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 ...

Tax cuts move ahead in Senate
President Obama speaks Monday. WASHINGTON — The Controversial $900 billion tax package President Obama negotiated with Republicans cleared a major hurdle in the Senate on Monday, setting the stage for passage later this week. The fate of the Legislation in the House is uncertain. The measure the Senate is poised to approve extends for two years Bush-era federal Income Tax cuts Republicans made a priority of getting for all income levels. At the top of objections from Liberal Democrats was...

Tax cuts move ahead in Senate
President Obama speaks Monday. WASHINGTON — The Controversial $900 billion tax package President Obama negotiated with Republicans cleared a major hurdle in the Senate on Monday, setting the stage for passage later this week. The fate of the Legislation in the House is uncertain. The measure the Senate is poised to approve extends for two years Bush-era federal Income Tax cuts Republicans made a priority of getting for all income levels. At the top of objections from Liberal Democrats was...

Obama takes center stage – this time as a moderate
It took a month for Barack Obama to make clear what he has learned from the Midterm Election “shellacking,” but the time has not been wasted. Future political historians are likely to trace his recovery – and re-election, if that’s what happens – back to decisions made in December. In these last few days, he has regained the economic initiative from the victorious Republicans, separated himself from the left of his own party and staked a strong claim to the terri...