“The tax cuts are not in place. They expire on January 1...”
That’s what j117 means I think. Just extend the tax cuts now so they don’t expire. Just like Obama did once before! Of course that was before he was elected for the second time making him King for four years.
Obama signed the bill that extended the tax cuts before. He can't do it unilaterally without Congress. He has said that he will not extend the tax cuts for everyone again.
And Obama only wants to extend the tax cuts for the middle class, not the "rich." This is the sticking point. If the Reps agree to extend the tax cut for only the middle class now, then there is no way they can pass a tax cut for the remaining 2% later. They are effectively voting to increase taxes on the 2%, something they said they would not do because it would hurt small business and cost 700,000 jobs.