Congress, Tax Cuts For The Rich | featured news

While Republican leaders in the House of Representatives insist that raising tax rates on the rich is an impossibility, some Republican lawmakers now see it as inevitable to avoiding the "fiscal cliff" of severe tax hikes and spending cuts set to start January 1.

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.

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 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.

The House gives final congressional approval Thursday night to sweeping, bipartisan legislation to avoid a Jan. 1 spike in income taxes, sending the bill to President Obama for signing.

Liberals in the House have forced a vote on a different version of the estate tax provision. They also protest the terms of debate on the tax-cut bill, demanding a separate vote so they can voice opposition.

A deal that President Barack Obama struck with Republicans to extend expiring tax cuts for nearly every working American and spur job growth sailed through the Senate on Wednesday.

Former Massachusetts Gov. and potential GOP 2012 presidential candidate Mitt Romney today penned an op-ed in USA Today criticizing the tax deal, though he stopped short of urging Republicans in Congress to vote against it. "Death and taxes, it is said ...

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.