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Last week, Barack Obama tried changing the subject from a bad jobs report and a sinking economy by shifting back to his class-warfare strategy. Insisting that the American people supported higher taxes on people earning more than $250,000 a year, he challenged Republicans in the House to pass a one-year extension on the other income-tax brackets while hiking taxes on the rest. It looks now like he should have challenged his own party in the Senate, which has balked at taking a vote on Obama's tax hike: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) on Wednesday rejected a Republican request to...

President Barack Obama today proposed allowing the income tax rates enacted in the Bush tax cuts of the last decade to expire at the end of this year for people earning more than $250,000 and at the end of next year for everyone else. Under current law, the lower tax rates will expire at the end of 2012. Under Obama's proposal, they will expire at the end of 2012 for those making more than $250,000 and at the end of 2013 for Americans making less than $250,000. “At the same time, most people agree, we should not raise taxes on...

In his remarks at the White House yesterday President Obama Called for extending Bush tax breaks for another year -- at least for certain taxpayers, those earning less than $250,000 per year. Apart from the continued exacerbation of class warfare in pitting "the middle class" against "the wealthy," a more deadly nuance lurked in his words. Twice in his brief speech he pointed out that we need to enact this cutoff because "we cannot afford to spend on tax breaks for the wealthy." Those words should frighten and arouse anyone who has an income. They are not ill-chosen words; they...

If we include all taxes, the real-world tax rate is much higher than the "official" income tax rate. For those Americans earning between $34,500 and $106,000, the real-world middle class tax burden in high-tax locales is 15% + 25% + 5% + 15% + 15% = 75%. Yes, 75%. Before you start listing the innumerable caveats and quibbles raised by any discussion of taxes, please hear me out first. Let's start by defining "taxes" as any fee that is mandated by law or legal necessity. In other words, taxes are what is not optional. If we include all taxes, the...

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama is launching a push to extend tax cuts for the middle class, as he seeks to shift the election-year economic debate from the dismal jobs market to assertions that Republican rival Mitt Romney protects the rich. Obama, in an address from the White House later Monday, will call on Congress to pass a one-year extension of tax cuts for households making less than $250,000 a year, said senior campaign adviser Robert Gibbs. The president's appeal to middle-class voters is aimed at drawing a contrast with Romney and congressional Republicans. The House GOP is expected...

President Obama is obviously panicked. Last month Obama and his supporters spent a lot more than Mitt Romney, but even with that cash advantage and the media on their side, the polls haven't budged. Moreover, the President and his campaign have been running around frantically trying to find something that will stick to Romney, be it provable lies about his outsourcing and outright smears involving offshore accounts. Still, Obama can't get above 47% and Romney hasn't even started campaigning in earnest or spending the $160 million he has on hand. Today, in yet another desperate attempt to win a news...

Pelosi Statement on President Obama’s Call to Extend the Middle Class Tax Cuts July 09, 2012 Washington, D.C. – Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi released the following statement today after President Obama called for the extension of tax cuts for all Americans making up to $250,000 per year: “Today, President Obama once again stood firmly with America’s middle class and small businesses. Democrats and the President have always fought for an extension of the tax cuts for middle-income families to offer greater relief and economic certainty to all working Americans. “Once again, Republicans must decide: will they continue to hold middle...

With the economy threatening to fall into another recession and job growth plummeting, Obama came before the American people today demanding taxes be raised on those making over $250,000 a year, including what he admitted would include 3% of small businesses. Even if that 3% is correct, which is disputed, that 3% means a tax increase on 900,000 small businesses. That's nearly a million small business owners who will now be even more crippled and have less capital available to expand their payrolls -- which of course means fewer jobs for the middle class and the poor who would like...