Posted on 12/16/2010 9:41:54 PM PST by Second Amendment First
Congress approved the most significant tax bill in nearly a decade late Thursday, overcoming liberal resistance to continue for two more years tax breaks enacted under President George W. Bush and to provide a fresh boost of federal support to the tepid economic recovery.
The package, brokered by President Obama and Republican leaders in the wake of the November elections, angered many Democrats, who have long argued that the Bush tax cuts were skewed to benefit the wealthy. But their last-minute campaign to scale back the bill's benefits for taxpayers at the highest income levels failed, and the House passed the measure 277 to 148, with 112 Democrats and 36 Republicans voting "no."
"This bill, the president of the United States believes and I believe, will have a positive effect on the economy," said House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.). "I will vote for this bill because I don't want to see middle-income working people in America get a tax increase, because I think that will be a depressant on an economy that needs to be lifted up."
The $858 billion package now goes to the White House. With his signature, expected as soon as Friday, Obama will prevent taxes from rising on New Year's Day for virtually every American household. The measure also will guarantee unemployed workers in hard-hit states up to 99 weeks of jobless benefits through the end of next year. And it will create major new incentives for business and consumer spending in 2011, including a two-percentage-point reduction in the Social Security payroll tax that would let workers keep as much as $2,136.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Bush’s fault.
I don’t think this is the Omniporkulus spending bill, that is supposedly “dead”. This is the tax-cut extension/unemployment extension bill.
Heard that over 6,000 earmarks were eliminated with the passage of this bill and also, there would not be any funding for Obamacare?
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