Obama Pushes for Tax Breaks

During President Barack Obama’s post-election news conference, he pressured House Republicans to approve the extension of the expiring tax rates for middle-class Americans. This would help the nation avoid the huge tax increases in the New Year that can sadden the mood during the holiday shopping season.

Stopping the class tax hikes that would affect 98 percent of Americans would ease the threat of the looming fiscal cliff, which is the year-end combination of automatic tax hikes and spending cuts that Washington is trying to avoid from happening. The president said that this could be done by next week.

President Obama warned House Republicans not to keep the middle class tax cuts hostage as the negotiations continue regarding taxes for upper income Americans. If both sides relent from compromising then the nation could go off the fiscal cliff.

Republicans in Congress have dismissed the President Obama’s threat as incremental. They maintained that they want a comprehensive measure that would keep tax rates low for every American, not just the middle class. But the president has been adamant that those earning incomes above $200,000 or $250,000 for couples should pay more.

House Speaker John A. Boehner of Ohio wants to extend all of the expiring tax rates for another year. This would give Congress and the White House enough time to work on a more comprehensive overhaul of the tax code that would close the loopholes and use the revenue to lower all tax rates.

President Obama said that he was open to new ideas because he expected the Republicans not to adopt his budget. He added that when it comes to the 2 percent, he would not extend a tax cut for people who don’t need it.

The president invited congressional leaders to the White House Friday to start the discussions on the looming fiscal cliff. One idea that has been floating around would be to maintain all existing tax rates but cap the deductions for the upper income households.