President Obama’s Weekly Address: The Push for Extending Middle Class Tax Cuts
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Official White House Photo by Pete Souza(WASHINGTON) — In his weekly address, President Obama continues to urge Congress to extend tax breaks for the middle class, saying it’s “unacceptable for some Republicans in Congress to hold middle class tax cuts hostage simply because they refuse to let tax rates go up on the wealthiest Americans.”
Echoing his remarks in Pennsylvania on Friday, Obama asks lawmakers to “begin by doing what we all agree on” and extend the middle class tax cuts set to expire at the end of the year. The president warns that if Congress doesn’t act, “a typical middle class family will see their income taxes rise by $2,200.” He adds, “We can’t let that happen. Our families can’t afford it, and neither can our economy.”
But, he says, there is a second, better option. “Right now, Congress can pass a law that would prevent a tax hike on the first $250,000 of everybody’s income. Everybody,” the president says in the address. “That means 98 percent of small businesses wouldn’t see their income taxes go up at all. And even the wealthiest Americans would get a tax cut on the first $250,000 of their incomes.”
“With the issue behind us, we’ll have more time to work out a plan to bring down our deficits in a balanced way – including by asking the wealthiest Americans to pay a little more, so we can still invest in the things that make our nation strong,” he says.
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