Barack Obama, Tax Cuts For The Rich | featured news

Tax cuts that President George W. Bush signed in 2001 and 2003 are playing a major role in the election of 2012. They surface again today as the Democratic-run Senate holds a symbolic debate over President Obama's proposal to extend the Bush tax cuts only for middle-class Americans, not for the wealthy.

President Barack Obama would veto legislation that extends all of the Bush administration's tax cuts, including those for the middle class, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said Monday. But top Republican aides said they don't buy it.

President Barack Obama continues to oppose extending Bush-era tax cuts for wealthier Americans, the White House said on Wednesday, shrugging off calls from some Democrats for a temporary extension to make more time for a deal on deficits.

Occupy Wall Street is going on the road – a two-week walk to Washington. A small group of activists plans to leave Manhattan's Zuccotti Park at noon Wednesday and arrive by the Nov. 23 deadline for a congressional committee to decide whether to keep President Barack Obama's extension of Bush-era tax cuts. Protesters say the cuts benefit only rich Americans.

President Barack Obama pressed his case on Saturday for achieving deficit reduction, in part by ending tax breaks and singling out hedge fund managers, oil companies and billionaires to take the hit.

Regardless of any tax concessions President Obama achieves, the end result would favor Republican goals of cutting spending and government services. Even as the political battle mounts over federal spending, the end result for federal policy is already visible — and clearly favors Republican goals of deep spending cuts and drastically fewer government services.

President Barack Obama pressed his case Wednesday that tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans must be ended as part of a deficit deal, which he said he believed Republicans and Democrats would reach.

President Barack Obama signed into law an $858 billion bill extending for two years Bush-era tax cuts to boost a fragile economy and add jobs.

Republicans and Democrats joined forces in the Senate on Monday to deliver the most significant bipartisan vote since President Obama took office, advancing a plan to extend tax cuts for virtually every American and to boost the economic recovery.

The Democratic-led U.S. Congress moved on Monday toward grudging approval of President Barack Obama's deal with Republicans to extend expiring tax cuts, even for the wealthiest Americans.