President Obama's Weekly Address 7/14/12: It’s Time for Congress to Pass the Middle Class Tax Cut Extension

WASHINGTON, DC— In this week’s address, President Obama called on Congress to act now to extend tax cuts for the 98% of Americans making less than $250,000 for another year. If Congress fails to act, taxes will go up on January 1st and will be a blow to millions of middle class families and to our economy. Both parties agree on extending the tax cuts for the middle class, and the President believes it’s time for Congress to act so that we can give the middle class and our small businesses the certainty they need as we work to create an economy that is built to last.

President Obama's Weekly Address 2/11/12: Extending the Payroll Tax Cut for the Middle Class

WASHINGTON, DC—In this week’s address, President Obama urged Congress to quickly pass the payroll tax cut extension to prevent a tax hike on 160 million hardworking Americans who are still recovering from the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression. This is not the time for a self-inflicted wound on the recovery or placing an added burden on middle class families, so Democrats and Republicans must pass this commonsense tax cut without drama or delay. We overcame the same standoff over the payroll tax cut extension in December with the help of the American people, and President Obama once again calls on all Americans to tell their elected leaders to do their jobs, put aside partisanship, and extend this tax cut for the middle class.

Congressman Frank Pallone Calls on Republicans to Stop Efforts to Raise Taxes on the Middle Class

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: December 20, 2011

WASHINGTON D.C.—Today, Tuesday, December 20, 2011, Congressman Frank Pallone Jr. (NJ-06) stood with Members of the House Democratic Leadership at a press conference calling on Speaker John Boehner and House Republicans to vote for a Senate bill extending the current Payroll Tax cuts and Unemployment Insurance. Both the Payroll Tax cuts, instituted by President Obama in 2009, and Unemployment Insurance for Americans who are out of work to no fault of their own, are set to expire on December 31, 2011 if the House fails to take action.

Earlier in the day in a speech on the Floor of the House of Representatives Congressman Pallone stated that, “The consequence for the American people is that the economy is in a very perilous situation right now, if you take this tax cut and you don't extend it, then it's very possible people won't have money to spend, the economy won't grow, and this teetering economy could easily fall back into a recession again.”

“They are playing a dangerous game with the lives and livelihoods of all Americans, at a time when we can afford it the least,” said Pallone. Their agenda is clear; end tax breaks to working Americans and the middle class while cutting the lifeline for the unemployed at a time when they can afford it the least.”

If Congress fails to take action and allows the Payroll Tax cuts to expire, Americans can expect to pay an additional $1,500 per year in additional taxes and 2.2 out of work Americans will lose their Unemployment Insurance.

View Congressman Pallone’s full floor statement here.

President Obama's Weekly Address 12/10/11 : Ensuring a Fair Shot for the Middle Class

WASHINGTON— In this week’s address, President Obama told the American people that the United States succeeds when everyone gets a fair shot, does their fair share, and engages in fair play. This is why the President nominated Richard Cordray to lead a new consumer-watchdog agency designed to protect families from being taken advantage of, but Republicans in Congress have blocked the nomination. They have also stood in the way of a balanced plan to extend the payroll tax cut for working families – and the President made clear he believes that elected officials should not go home for the holidays until they’ve done what is right for the American people and for the economy by extending this tax cut.

President Obama's Weekly Adrress 10/22/11: Bringing Home Our Troops

WASHINGTON—In this week’s address, President Obama said that the death of Moammar Qadhafi in Libya and the announcement that troops from Iraq will return home by the end of the year are strong reminders that the United States has renewed its leadership in the world. The role of our brave pilots and crews has given the Libyan people a chance to seek a democratic future for their children, and after a decade of war in Iraq, the United States is moving forward and focusing on strengthening the economy and security at home. This is why the President is calling on Congress to pass the American Jobs Act to rebuild our crumbling infrastructure, give working families a tax break, and put teachers back in our classrooms and cops on the beat. We must bring the same sense of urgency to revitalizing our economy that our troops took to their fight, which is why President Obama is urging Republicans and Democrats to work together to pass the American Jobs Act now to put the American people back to work.

President Obama's Weekly Address 8/13/11: Putting the American People First

WASHINGTON-- In this week’s address, President Obama told the American people that although the United States leads the world in new ideas, innovative businesses and creative entrepreneurs, too many Americans are still struggling to get by. It is time for Congress to act on the President’s proposals, including extending the payroll tax cut, cutting red tape, and getting our construction workers back to work, so that we can get our economy on firmer ground and ensure that anyone who wants a job can find one. President Obama believes the American people deserve more than political brinksmanship, and urges anyone who is frustrated by the gridlock in Washington to let their elected officials know that it is time to put aside partisanship and act in the best interests of the country.

President Obama's Weekly Address 12/11/10: Protecting the Middle Class & the Economy

In this week’s address, President Obama strongly urged both houses of Congress to pass the framework agreement on middle class tax cuts. This is a good deal for the American people, and they are counting on Washington to get this done. A failure to do so would not only result in tax hikes on middle class families and a loss of unemployment insurance for those hardest hit by this recession, but it would also risk weakening our economic recovery.



Click >>> Here to learn more about the compromise framework.

President Obama's Weekly Address: Tax Cuts & Unemployment Insurance

With President Obama visiting troops in Afghanistan, Vice President Biden says Congress must extend both the middle class tax cuts and unemployment insurance for the sake of those families and the broader economy.

The White House White Board: CEA Chair Austan Goolsbee Explains the Tax Cut Fight

From the White House Blog

Today Team Obama is trying something new, they are rolling out the - White House White Board,in which one of the key players on the White House team will cut through the political back-and-forth you hear every day and break down an issue affecting American families into simple, understandable terms. Today, Austan Goolsbee, the new Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers at the White House, tackles the tax cut fight and what it means that Congressional Republicans are "holding middle class tax cuts hostage" as the President has said:





Key points and links:

Under President Obama’s plan, all Americans would receive a tax cut on the first $250,000 of their income. Every middle class family would receive the immediate certainty and comfort of knowing their tax cuts were permanently extended. Every American making more than $250,000 per year they would receive a tax cut on the first $250,000 of their income.

Instead of working to give middle class families this immediate certainty and comfort, Congressional Republicans are continuing to hold that relief hostage in order to have our nation borrow $700 billion that we can’t afford to provide an average tax cut of $100,000 to millionaires and billionaires.

We simply can’t afford to give the wealthiest Americans these big tax cuts that would add to our deficit and, according to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office, be just about the least effective way to grow our economy and help create jobs.

President Obama's Weekly Address: 4/10/10 Relief for the Middle Class at Tax Time

As April 15th approaches, the President discusses several of the tax breaks for middle class families he has signed into law. Find out more about the Making Work Pay tax credit, breaks for first-time homebuyers, rewards for making your home more energy efficient and more through our Tax Savings Tool.

FACT CHECK: GOP adrift on small business claim

From the Associated Press via Yahoo News comes this little fact check pertaining to President Obama's tax plans:

 

WASHINGTON – Claims that President Barack Obama's tax plans are an assault on small business skirt the likelihood that most job-producing small businesses wouldn't feel that pinch at all.

Obama is proposing to raise taxes on households earning over $250,000 by increasing the rate on the top two tax brackets and limiting deductions, starting in 2011.

Republicans and other critics, knowing they will get little mileage from defending the rich, instead are casting the plan as a tax hit on people who run industrious little companies driving job growth.

That's not likely, according to one in-depth analysis, which found that more than 95 percent of small business owners would be off the hook.

Obama does not propose higher business taxes.

Read more >>> Here

 

AS 111th CONGRESS BEGINS, SEN. MENENDEZ SAYS STIMULUS IS PRESSING NEED FOR LOCAL, NATIONAL ECONOMY

Press Release of Senator Menendez

Monday, January 5, 2009

WASHINGTON – Before heading to Washington for this week’s beginning of the 111th Congress, U.S. Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ) spoke today about the pressing need for the passage of an effective economic stimulus package to address the economic recession that has caused more than 34,000 jobs losses in New Jersey through the first 11 months of 2008. Appearing with Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy, Hudson County Executive Thomas DeGise and local labor union leaders, Senator Menendez said that federal funding for critical infrastructure, construction and energy projects as well as a middle class tax cut is the type of effective stimulus package that is needed. The group spoke standing next to the Pulaski Skyway, a 76 year-old bridge that is need of significant reinforcement and restoration and could benefit from a stimulus package.

“As we get to business in Congress, we do so with the full understanding that, above everything else, the economic crisis is hitting people hard, here in New Jersey, across the country and the world,” said Senator Menendez. “This crisis is taking away people’s jobs, their homes and their life savings. So addressing the economy is not just our first order of business – it’s our first, second and third orders of business.”

Senator Menendez continued: “We are working to craft and quickly pass an economic stimulus bill that invests money in the most effective way possible – with ‘effective’ being the key word. We’re not talking about spending money just for the sake of it to create the appearance that we’re taking action. What we’re talking about is smart investment in the types of local projects and programs that actually create jobs, fuel our economy and help create the conditions necessary for a turnaround.”

Senator Menendez went on to say that the types of projects would be effective as part of a stimulus should fit three criteria:

• Spur job creation
• Address a critical need for the community
• Are ready to be started quickly

Among the projects Senator Menendez mentioned as possible ways to effectively stimulate the economy were:

• Critical infrastructure projects, such as restoration of the Pulaski Skyway and scores of other road, bridge and bypass restoration and construction
• Mass transit projects, including the establishment of a stream of funding for the ARC tunnel across the Hudson
• School construction and restoration
• Energy projects, such as funding for Senator Menendez’s Energy Efficiency Block Grants program to help municipalities conserve energy and funding to help residents weatherize their houses and cut down energy bills

Senator Menendez also expressed hope that the middle-class tax cuts touted by President-elect Barack Obama on the campaign trail will be included in the stimulus package. President-elect Obama has made signing an effective economic stimulus package his top priority for the beginning of his presidency in order to address the recession immediately. Congressional leadership is working to craft and vote on a stimulus package in the next few weeks.