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Subscribe to RSSIf Congress can't agree on a deal to avert the fiscal cliff, the president said taxes will rise by about $2,000 for the average family. NBC's Kristen Welker reports.
HATFIELD, Pa. -- President Obama today continued his efforts to push Congress to extend the Bush-era tax cuts for income below $250,000 with a visit to a toy factory here in suburban Philadelphia.
"We talked about this a lot... We had debates about it. There were a lot of TV commercials about it," Obama said. “At the end of the day, a clear majority of Americans -- Democrats, Republicans, independents -- they agreed with a balanced approach to deficit reduction and making sure that middle-class taxes don't go up.”
Recommended: White House 'surprised' by GOP 'surprise'
The non-partisan Tax Policy Center says if these tax cuts expire at the end of the year -- as they are set to do -- about 90% of Americans would paid more in taxes and middle-income families would see their taxes rise by about $2,000.
Obama didn’t present any new ideas in his first speech since House Republicans rejected Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner’s proposal that he presented in meetings with congressional leadership yesterday. That proposal included $1.6 trillion in tax increases, $400 billion in cuts to Medicare and other programs, and ending Congress' control of the debt limit.
But Obama did couch his frustration with Congress in humor.
“I've been keeping my own naughty and nice lists for Washington," he said at a Rodon Group plant that makes the popular K'nex brand of toys. "So you should keep your eye on who gets K'NEX this year. There are going to be some members of Congress who get them, and some who don't."
Susan Walsh / AP
President Barack Obama looks over a rollercoaster with K'NEX Inventor Joel Glickman, left, and Rodon Group President and Chief Executive Officer Michael Araten, right, during a tour of the company in Hatfield, Pa. Friday, Nov. 30, 2012.
Even the seriousness of the country’s fiscal health couldn’t keep the president from joking about his affable vice president.
Talking about the colorful toys in the factory, Obama said, “Joe Biden was in Costco. He wanted to buy some of this stuff. But I told him he had too much work to do. I wasn't going to have him building roller coasters all day long.”
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Here we go again Mr. Dont Know on the campaign trail again. Selling his plan to run us in the ground by increasing taxes to the owner of factories and other businesses again. SOCIALISME is not going to work!!!!!!!! Can anybody please explain this to this boy.
HYPOCRITE REPUBLICANS RAISE TAXES ON MIDDLE CLASS. That's the headline come January 1st. Har! Har!
"The Hawaii Reporter writes that the President and First Lady's separate trips to Hawaii (Michelle and the girlsarrived Friday; check out photos of President Obama arriving last year here) as well as the extended stay of the vacation will cost American tax payers nearly $4 million, roughly $2.5 million more than the President's 2010 trip."
Anything else to say ? Obama really fighting for middle class?
The only sentence in this entire article that need be read is the one which contains the following statement: "Obama didn’t present any new ideas". THIS is not negotiation. THIS is not a serious effort to reach an agreement to avoid the pending fiscal cliff. THIS is the reason that nothing of real significance was accomplished during Obama's first term in office, and THIS will be the reason that nothing of real significance is accomplished during his second term. Instead of making constructive offers, he offers lame jokes.
What have the Republicans presented?
Pay attention. The Republicans have offered to negotiate and agree to steps that will increse federal revenue, largely by simplifying the current tax code, eliminating certain tax deductions, and limiting the total dollar amount of deductions which may be claimed. THAT is an offer. THAT is negotiation. In return, the President offers jokes, and goes on a politcal tour the goal of which is NOT to reach an agreement, but rather to once again play the blame-game and throw Republicans under the bus.
Redistribution of wealth is always the top priority of a leftist. We'll see how this works out for America. Those familiar with Pasternak and Dr. Zhivago probably have a pretty good idea.
Redistribution of wealth is not a power granted to the federal government by the U.S. Constitution.
Let's look at this another way. If the Middle Class has more money to spend, Small Business will make more money. Which will give them the opportunity to hire more employees. Small Business is very good at passing increased operating expenses on to consumers. The best example that comes to mind is the credit card surcharge. They will make more money, they will pay more taxes. If the Middle Class doesn't have money to spend everybody loses. According to the U.S. Small Business Administration in 2008 there were 15.5 million people that identified themselves as Self Employed (incorporated and unincorporated) the median marginal personal tax rate was 10%. Only 4.1% of Self Employed were in the marginal tax bracket of 33% or more. I used the Self Employed as an example because that is the group used most often in discussions I've had with others.
Say "No" to an unlimited debt ceiling!!!
Obama is saying raise taxes on the 1% give the middle class a break, wants $1.6T in new taxes, be able to raise the debt ceiling at will without congress saying ok, cut $400B in entilements, but when he did not say, and this is what the left is calling a leader? That has to be the best joke of the year.. and to say he is reaching across party lines is a slap in the face to the American public......so what does he do? Goes to Hawaii for 20 days at a cost of $4Mill....cool that is a real leader!
"The Hawaii Reporter writes that the President and First Lady's separate trips to Hawaii (Michelle and the girlsarrived Friday; check out photos of President Obama arriving last year here) as well as the extended stay of the vacation will cost American tax payers nearly $4 million, roughly $2.5 million more than the President's 2010 trip."
Obama claims that increasing America's debt weaken us domestically and internationally. Now he's seeking the power to increase the debt limit and borrow money without Congressional approval.
You don't need to read between the lines to know what he's planning. He's already created and is training the man power for his new Military Police Authority whose police powers aren't restricted by Constitutional protections afforded every citizen.
Its been reported that internment camps are being built across this country.
He's signed a Bill into law that make involvement in peaceful protest a felony that can land a person in jail for up to 10 years. A sentence that will be handed down by a military court.
Every day more and more American are finding themselves dependent on Government assistance.
The democrats in 2010 lifted the ban on horse meat for human consumption.
Oh my are the next 4 years going to be interesting as Obama actions indicate that he has a problem with our Constitution and the protection it affords every citizen from an abusive government.
man..you have some sources that detail this information? this is scary stuff.
The military Police Authority was created on December 31, 2011 when most of the White house reporters were home enjoying the New Years Holiday. It wasn't widely reported on.
The information about the internment camps were in a story on illegal immigrants. What make this strange is that Obama's policies on illegal immigrant is to give them instant citizenship so what are the internment camps really for.
In the first 3 months of 2012, Obama issued an executive order that gives him the authority to declare Martial Law at his discretion and signed a Bill into law that defines that actions in a protest that are a considered a felony, like blocking a sidewalk.
31.9 million were receiving food stamps when Obama took office. 47.1 million are receiving food stamps today. Obama refuses to make pubic the welfare roll numbers, but you can get I idea of how they've grown from the food stamp numbers. An average of 73,077 people were added to the food stamp rolls each week of Obama's first term. Compare this to the number of people who fell off the unemployment rolls each week and you get an idea if they became self supporting or depended on the government.
Horse meat is now being sold over the counter in NYC. There have been a number of news stories about the wild horses on Federal land being rounded up and taken to the slaughterhouse after the ban was lifted.
You'll have to do some Internet searching, but you'll find out that my words are factual.
So Obama wants a free had at the debt ceiling.....um I think he forgot this.......The fact that we are here today to debate raising America’s debt limit is a sign of leadership failure. It is a sign that the U.S. Government can’t pay its own bills. It is a sign that we now depend on ongoing financial assistance from foreign countries to finance our Government’s reckless fiscal policies. … Increasing America’s debt weakens us domestically and internationally. Leadership means that “the buck stops here.” Instead, Washington is shifting the burden of bad choices today onto the backs of our children and grandchildren. America has a debt problem and a failure of leadership. Americans deserve better." March 2006
It is the responsbility of the President to be a leader. To be inclusive. To find common ground. To bring us together. To move the country forward by leveraging the multitude of common interests which we share as a nation of people. Instead, this President and his fellow Democrats have chosen to be divisive. To emphasive not our commonality but rather to gain personal and Party advantage by focusing on complex and controversial social issues in which our beliefs and opinions are widely varied. To divide and conquer. To support whatever narrowly focused social cause which will garner a block of votes of the electorate. To form a coalition of the disparate. Lacking leadership in possession of the abilty to unite us, we the people must ourselves return to common ground. The future of our nation is at stake.
He is leading but to where and what?
This left wing rag conveniently forget to mention that Obama also wants to increase the tax rates and strip the house of its Constitutional power to set debt limits. His true purpose is to obtain dictatorial powers. Obama = Morsy.
Obama is a fighter for the middle class:
"The Hawaii Reporter writes that the President and First Lady's separate trips to Hawaii (Michelle and the girlsarrived Friday; check out photos of President Obama arriving last year here) as well as the extended stay of the vacation will cost American tax payers nearly $4 million, roughly $2.5 million more than the President's 2010 trip."
Obama constant drum beat on being 'champion of middle class' is so hypocritical. The argument of course will be Bush 1, Bush 2 , Clinton, etc. all traveled and spent money. Special meaning with Obama given his visit to toy factory and so-called 'man of the people and fighting for middle class."
My brother out of work as a union electrical worker and this clown has the rocks to go spend $4 million tax money ...."here America, in your face."
Just be glad that they aren't taking 40 of their friends like the first lady tried to do on her so called "State Trip" to Spain. The taxpayers would have pay for that if that reporter hadn't exposed what was going on.
Let me remind you all of Obama's words about the perils of raising the debt limits as they've become the realities of today. Considering they are just as pertinent today as the day they were spoken, they give an insight into Obama's motivation for wanting the power of of unlimited borrowing without congressional approval.
The fact that we are here today to debate raising America's debt limit is a sign of leadership failure. It is a sign that the U.S. Government can't pay its own bills. It is a sign that we now depend on ongoing financial assistance from foreign countries to finance our Government's reckless fiscal policies.
And the cost of our debt is one of the fastest growing expenses in the Federal budget. This rising debt is a hidden domestic enemy, robbing our cities and States of critical investments in infrastructure like bridges, ports, and levees; robbing our families and our children of critical investments in education and health care reform; robbing our seniors of the retirement and health security they have counted on.
Every dollar we pay in interest is a dollar that is not going to investment in America's priorities. Instead,interest payments are a significant tax on all Americans–a debt tax that Washington doesn't want to talk about. If Washington were serious about honest tax relief in this country, we would see an effort to reduce our national debt by returning to responsible fiscal policies.
Increasing America's debt weakens us domestically and internationally. Leadership means that "the buck stops here. Instead, Washington is shifting the burden of bad choices today onto the backs of our children and
grandchildren. America has a debt problem and a failure of leadership. Americans deserve better.
I therefore intend to oppose the effort to increase America's debt limit.
Sen. Barack Hussein Obama, Jr., (Senate – March 16, 2006)
Increasing taxes to rich a joke.
It will pay for 8.5 days to run our government. So after that lets talk cutting debt. Obama will own the net $1.2 trillion additional debt we will spend this year. His name on 98% of all of that....
Let us fall off the cliff. Obie only using it as a negotiating tactic.
Reagan fell prey to Democrats who said "let's increase the taxes first, then we can talk about cutting expenses later..." He got burnt and regrets he made that deal.
The Dems will never cut expenses as it is not in their DNA.
We live in scary times in our republic when one man wants to strip the house of it's debt limits and get rid of filibuster tactic in the Senate, a move both parties have used to stymy bad legislation or to negotiate.
Republicans and their supporters have never liked the idea of SS, Medicare, unemployment insurance, child labor laws, unions or environmental laws. The types of things that protect people and build the American middle class. To them, these are the gifts that Romney complained about. They are the "entitlements" they want to cut and eventually get rid of and now is their opportunity to do so. Republicans do not want a compromise and so over the fiscal cliff we go.
Obama wants to have unlimited power to raise the debt ceiling? Your not thinking straight...and Obama is pushing things over the cliff....
Republicans were the powers in Congress when Soc. Sec., medicare and all of the other so called entitlements were passed. Where on earth do you Liberals come up with your garbage. It was Democrats, LBJ who opened the Soc. Sec. vault to Congress who, as always, squandered all of it to businesses and foriegn countries w/o collecting even one thin dime of it back. When SSI came to being it was supposed to be voluntary. It was supposed to only be 1% of your income. Many other things that the Republicans are trying to return it to. It was always the Dimocrats who made it forced, because of the extra income to them and them who bankrupted the system. Now it is time to pay the piper but, again, they are forcing we the people to pay up. A compromise means giving and taking on both sides. Give me one hard example of what the Pretender in Chief has offered as a spending cut? By the way, Constitutionally, the Pretender in Chief offers a budget to Congress who votes on it, sends it to the Senate for their vote, then the senate makes tweeks, sends it to Congress for tweeks until the two come together on a finished budge. I vaguely remember 4 years ago this Pretender sent a budget straight to the Senate who rejected it 99 to 0. Who is negotiating in bad faith?????
http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2012/11/30/15573691-the-spending-obama-already-cut
I told Obama to go to the Toy Factory . . what better place to start early to Organize and Polarize the Children of our country??
Organize and Polarize . . Organize and Polarize . . it is the New American Way!!!!
Obama is trying to set the stage for a total take over......he is following Morsi, the Muslim Brotherhood, to whom he gave $1.5B to. Morsi set the stage in Egypt and his Muslim Brotherhood wrote a new constitution, which will most likely set the stage for Sharia Law in Egypt...He first cancelled the parlament the court shot down the constitution and things are going as planned for Morsi...Obama is trying to do the same thing....maybe not sharia law but something close to it
Egyptian courts declared death penalty for the maker of the Muhammed video out of California. So should we here in America declare the artist who made the piss Christ get the death penalty?
No. But Obama seems to think more about the feelings of those of the Islamic faith than he does of Americans...He has apologized for every thing under the sun to those of Islam...but do you hear him trying to protect the average American in such cases? What happened to the Dr. who helped nail OBL as being in the compound in Pakistan...the man is sittiing in jail for 30 years....The man risked everything to help us....he blamed a video on Bengahzi for nearly 2 weeks when he knew it was a terrorist attack...No I do not trust anything the man says or does....and that is sad,,,,I have seen Presidents from Truman to Obama...never have I witnessed anything like what he is trying to do....it scares me..
send us over the cliff...let's get it out of our system. We will never cut spending if we dont' address it now.
Does anyone really think we don't have mass gov't fraud and waste ?
Do you really trust government vs private sector with your $1 bill?
Of the 19 riches members of congress, 11 of them are democrats. Obama is worth over $10 million. Its been reported that over half of the members of Congress are millionaires and the other half is working hard to become millionaires.
IN 2009 & 2010 Obama had the power to get his tax reform implement and he didn't even bother to propose it to Congress. Then in 2010 he pushed for and got the Bush tax cuts to the rich extended without one objection from a democratic congress person who champions raising taxes on the rich. If he had left them expire, he and his democrats would have been paying the higher taxes they claim they want to pay.
Oh yea, its the republicans fault that the rich aren't paying the higher taxes Obama got on national TV and told the nation he wanted to pay and should be paying.
DUH! I'm an Obama Supporter whose so gullible, I'm pathetic.
Millenials,
How can you in good conscience vote for a man (obama) who is racking up debt and spending your money faster than you'll ever be able to make it?
This country government and constitution being passed to your hands.
You better wake-up as you will never know the standard of living your mother/fathers new.
The vault is open and the progressives (socialist at heart) are stealing money out of it as fast as they can get their hands on it.
Here the whisper: " I can take care of you but in return I want something back. I get to control your life."
I believe we’re on a slow decline to “One Party
Rule.” I know the total vote count of last election was fairly even, but
the reality of it is that messages are tightly controlled by non-objective
media, with a progressive agenda that will accelerate our decline. If we do retain
the two party system, the messages will coalesce so much, that it won’t even
matter. Whoever looks or talks prettier
will be the deciding factor! Mind you, I’m not even close to being a
religious zealot, or anything reasonably associated with fringe elements.
Common sense has always ruled my life, and will remain so, though even it’s
death rattle is self-evident in the political realm.
Get your hands out of our pockets you damn dirty ape!
This is Obama's baby. He has spent us off the so called cliff.It is his way or the highway. What is his friggin plan. He wansts the Bush Tax cuts to end, well guess what, that is a tax raise on the middle class, I call bull@!$%# on him and his commie friends, he is trying to blame congress for his inability to come up with a plan to clean up his mess, just like he blamed Bush for the first 4 years of his poor leadership.Treason is the willfull harming of ones country, by all rights Obama should be behind bars.
Everyone who is defending the Pretender in Chief must know about politics as a much as monkey knows about flying. It is the Pretenders job to submit a budget, not Congress's. Pretender in Chief submitted one budget his first year and it was turned down by his own Senate 99-0. Now he wants the Republicans to do his job! What are his proposed cuts to the deficit spending? He wants Republicans to give him more money but he does not want to curb his outrageous spending spree. He intends to increase our spending ceiling $2 Trillion. Then he will expect we the tax payers to come up with that. He first needs to do his job before he tells ANYONE they aren't doing theirs. Congress is doing their job but stopping this Pretender in his tracks. We go over the cliff now.....or later. Later there is no climbing back out. If he is stopped now, we can recover. If he spends on one penny more over the next four years,,,,,,,,we will be $8 to $14 Trillion more in debt...Sianara America. Bend over now because he has made it clear he WILL continue his wasteful spending. By the way...
where did the first $5 Trillion go? How has that worked out for us? $2000 a year less income for middle income America. Healthcare costs have increased $2000 to $4000 a year for each tax payer. More for employers. No wonder the real unemployment in this country is 15 to 18%. As he secretly told the Russians,
he is now.........UNRESTRAINED!!!!!!
The press is going to get called out on what they are doing with this deal. Twisting words and meanings to promote the presidential agenda will get them in trouble in the end.