Obama Accuses GOP of Hypocrisy in Fight to Extend Payroll Tax Cut
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Haraz N. Ghanbari/AP Photo
With the clock ticking toward the new year deadline to extend the payroll tax cut, President Obama today accused Republicans of hypocrisy for protecting the interests of the wealthy over the needs of the middle class.
“How can you fight tooth and nail to protect high-end tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans and yet barely lift a finger to prevent taxes going up for 160 million Americans who really need the help? It doesn’t make sense,” Obama told reporters in the White House briefing room.
Obama made yet another public plea for Congress to extend and expand the payroll tax cut before the holiday recess and said failure to do so would cost middle-class families $1,000 next year.
“My message to Congress is this: Now’s not the time to slam on the brakes. Now is the time to step on the gas,” he said. “Now’s the time to make a real difference in the lives of the people who sent us here. So let’s get to work.”
While some Republicans in Congress have come out in support of the extension, the parties remain divided over how to pay for it with Republicans opposing Democratic plans to impose a tax surcharge on millionaires.
“There is widespread support for extending the current payroll tax holiday, and everyone – Republicans, Democrats and the president himself – says it should be done in a way that does not increase our deficit. If the president wants to make progress, he should insist that Senate Democrats remove the job-killing small business tax hike from their partisan proposal,” a spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, said in response to the president’s remarks.
Obama said today he is willing to work with Republicans to pay for the payroll tax cut “in a responsible way,” but he is not willing “to pay for the extension in a way that actually hurts the economy.”
The president also noted that Republicans previously have not worried about paying for tax cuts. “Over the last decade they didn’t feel the need to pay for massive tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans, which is one of the reasons that we face such large deficits,” he said.
Moments after the president’s remarks, the White House revealed a clock in the briefing room counting down to the end of the year, saying middle-class taxes will increase “if Congress doesn’t act.”
In addition to the payroll tax cut, the president also said it would be a “terrible mistake” for lawmakers to head home for the holidays without extending unemployment insurance.
“If that happens, then in January, they’ll be leaving 1.3 million Americans out in the cold. To a lot of families, this emergency insurance is the last line of defense between hardship and catastrophe,” he said. “We cannot play games with unemployment insurance when we still have an unemployment rate that is way too high.”
The president’s remarks came as Senate Democrats were readying to unveil a new, significantly scaled-back plan to extend the payroll tax cut. Obama did not comment directly on the new compromise.
The new $180 billion proposal does not include the payroll tax holiday for businesses and employers that was included in the original $265 billion plan that failed in the Senate last week, but would still expand the payroll tax cut for individuals to 3.1 percent from 2 percent.
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So were the gw bush tax cuts offset by cuts in other places?? Of COURSE NOT! GW was a Republican and Republicans ARE hypocrites. 2012 can’t come soon enough to shut these liars up!!!
Posted by: demNme5 | December 5, 2011, 4:13 pm 4:13 pm
I used to support President Barack Hussein Obama, I really did, but with all due respect, really, Barack Hussein makes stuff up. “Fair share”? What about the 47% that pay no, nil, nada, zip income tax whatsoever, Barack Hussein, huh? Are they paying their “fair share”? And what about the 40% that outright take money from, that’s right, take money from instead of pay money to, Barack Hussein, the income tax system? The ones who only take take take, huh, are they paying their “fair share”? It is time we had a President who doesn’t make the hard working tax-paying American worker work doubly hard to pay for the pan-handling bottom-feeding lucky duckies. It is time for Perry 12, PUMA!
Posted by: Obamacrat for Perry | December 5, 2011, 4:13 pm 4:13 pm
GOP has whined and cried “NO increase in revenue” I guess they should have been more specific and said “No increase in revenue unless you make under $100K”. Hypocrisy is exactly the right word. The GOP should not count on as Politico’s Mike Allen calls it “American amnesia”. The Republicans are speeding faster and faster towards a huge defeat in 2012 (I think White House, House and seats in Senate).
Posted by: MTATL67 | December 5, 2011, 4:14 pm 4:14 pm
@OBAMACRAT FOR PERRY: It’s hard to believe you supported President Obama by calling him “Barack Hussein”. Sounds like you’re a Ann Coulter hack which needs no further explanation.
Posted by: Pete | December 5, 2011, 4:30 pm 4:30 pm
And what about the 40% that outright take money from, that’s right, take money from instead of pay money to, Barack Hussein, the income tax system? Posted by: Obamacrat for Perry | December 5, 2011, 4:13 pm……………………….You mean like Shell Oil Company? Just for example.
Posted by: Taintedbylies | December 5, 2011, 4:39 pm 4:39 pm
Oh yes, more Hope and Change. Idiots!
Posted by: huh? | December 5, 2011, 4:40 pm 4:40 pm
Tell it like it is Mr. President. For the life of me I cannot figure out why Republicans would want to remove the payroll tax benefit to those who most need it, and fight any plans whatsoever to raise taxes on the wealthy. Mr. Boehner is an imbecile of the highest degree with his ludicrous arguments. To those who think 47% of the country pay no taxes, I ask you, what is their income level? Do they pay no sales taxes at stores? Do they pay no real estate taxes if they are fortunate enough to own homes? If you look at the wealthiest Americans average taxes, articles I have read indicate their annual income tax level is approximately 18%. This was substantiated in recent statements by Warren Buffett, the second wealthiest man in the US. A tax of 18% on income of $1,000,000 has much less impact on discretionary income than a 30% tax rate does on a salary of $50,000. Do the math for God’s sake! Someone making $25,000 per year cannot afford to pay taxes at any amount! Someone making $1 million per year SHOULD be paying a higher share of their income to taxes; they can sure afford it.
Posted by: rohnertpark1 | December 5, 2011, 4:45 pm 4:45 pm
Why don’t the republicans just come out a say they oppose tax cuts for the middle class and small business but will die to defend tax cuts for the truffle eaters. The President is exactly right; they are a bunch of hypocrites who think the American people are too stupid to see their hypocrisy.
Posted by: tmferretti | December 5, 2011, 4:47 pm 4:47 pm
Taintedbylies, No, he means GE. You know the guy Obama made his job czar that sends jobs overseas and pays no taxes.
Posted by: specialty57 | December 5, 2011, 4:50 pm 4:50 pm
they are a bunch of hypocrites who think the American people are too stupid to see their hypocrisy. Posted by: tmferretti | December 5, 2011, 4:47 pm…………………..Unfortunately, many of them are – judging by some of the posts on this website and the results of the 2010 elections.
Posted by: Taintedbylies | December 5, 2011, 4:55 pm 4:55 pm
No, he means GE. You know the guy Obama made his job czar that sends jobs overseas and pays no taxes. Posted by: specialty57 | December 5, 2011, 4:50 pm…………………GE, Shell Oil – the list goes on and on. In regard to the President’s appointing Jeffrey Immelt chairman of the Council on Jobs and Competitiveness; who better to ask for advice and counsel in the matter of shipping jobs overseas than those who have been most active in doing so. They understand the reasons for the trend; the cost advantages; as well as the disadvantages. Don’t you think this is information the President would want to know and understand?
Posted by: Taintedbylies | December 5, 2011, 5:08 pm 5:08 pm
“to pay for the extension in a way that actually hurts the economy.”
That’s barry-speak for read my lips no government spending cuts before my re-election.
Posted by: foggy | December 5, 2011, 5:11 pm 5:11 pm
it’s not just hypocrisy over taxes. Why are Republicans OK with letting this payroll tax cut expire? They know it would cost jobs and WORSEN the national long-term unemployment.
Without this extension we’d see increased unemployment by as much as 600,000 to 1 million jobs next year according to Moody’s. So why would the Republicans in Congress want to strip roughly $1,000 out of Middle Class pockets while fighting for the wealthiest?
More importantly, WHY would any working Republican voter support this kind of damage?
Posted by: green.goddess | December 5, 2011, 5:11 pm 5:11 pm
Ah more loony comments from the increasingly fringe president. Why don’t you go back on vacation. Ooops whne does that 17 day vacation start during our time of crisis? When will the shills for this president start doing some serious thinking rather than the knee jerk repsonse of supporting this moron.
Posted by: jonny | December 5, 2011, 5:12 pm 5:12 pm
Leave it to the economic illiterates in the room to begin screaming “hypocrisy!”
The Right has many problems with taxes, from the Laffer Curve to the oppressive, controlling nature of them… but it is not a knee-jerk “cut taxes” philosophy. You have to have some kind of understanding over what taxes your’e cutting. There are economic reason to cut taxes, and there are economic reasons to choose certain taxes over others to cut. The payroll tax is THE ONLY THING FUNDING SOCIAL SECURITY right now. Of all the taxes to complain about, this is one of the few ones the Republicans aren’t trying to cut.
The question you libs should be asking yourself is, why is Obama willing to de-fund social security just to use as a campaign weapon against the Republicans? How in the world can you be okay with that?
Don’t you see what Obama’s doing? He’s trying to cut a tax that no one in their right mind is trying to cut, and blaming the Republicans for not going along with this stupidity – then trying to claim he’s a tax cutter in the process! And all of you on the Left EAT IT UP, don’t you?
Posted by: jrobinson | December 5, 2011, 5:17 pm 5:17 pm
I’m a left wing loony, “gobble gobble gobble.”
Posted by: jonny | December 5, 2011, 5:23 pm 5:23 pm
“Without this extension we’d see increased unemployment by as much as 600,000 to 1 million jobs next year according to Moody’s”
Does Moody’s have an exit strategy? Will we be back here again in one year? Like we are today? Will Moody’s downgrade the US if we don’t do this? If we do do this?
The Democrats are the party of government and have an insatiable desire for spending. It will never end. They will always need more. They can’t wait.
Posted by: foggy | December 5, 2011, 5:28 pm 5:28 pm
If growing government and running up debt is the key to prosperity, explain to me why we aren’t the most properous nation on earth? The Democrat party will continue to explode our debt with entitlement programs that the president himself said are the biggest drivers of debt. So what’s his plan to deal with this? Crickets.
Posted by: s | December 5, 2011, 5:37 pm 5:37 pm
obamas picture is next to hypocrite in websters dictionary. consider the source.
Posted by: catman | December 5, 2011, 5:55 pm 5:55 pm
jrobinson | December 5, 2011, 5:17 pm……………………..Wow! Did you happen to read the part of the article about off-setting the tax cut with an increase in taxes for those making a million dollars or more? It’s pretty simple math.
Posted by: Taintedbylies | December 5, 2011, 5:58 pm 5:58 pm
Im amazed by some of these comments, yes there are so many issues and flaws in our government but one thing is clear obama or no obama our country needs to change and realize the greed must stop…99% suffer while the rest laugh and lay in our money…that’s right its our hard work that has made them rich…time to pay forward and not just with their donations they give just for more tax cuts!! Pay a fair percent!!!! I m afraid their will be change but it might not come peacefully people are getting smart…what happens when words are not enough???
Posted by: eyes wide open | December 5, 2011, 6:00 pm 6:00 pm
FOGGY | DECEMBER 5, 2011, 5:28 PM posted: “The Democrats are the party of government and have an insatiable desire for spending.”
Really? Take a look at Federal spending on United States discretionary spending over the years 2001 to 2010. You may recall that most of those years were the G.W. Bush era.
The big winner was the Department of Defense, which captured 64.6% of the total increase in discretionary spending over those years. And that does not even count Homeland Security, Veteran Affairs, and International Assistance Programs.
It would not be a stretch to estimate that more than 75% of the increase in spending over the last decade went to support militarism. 3/4 of our national spending on war and related military?
How can we pay down a massive national debt when our spending choices do not reshape employment, production and investment in America’s future? We need better directed government spending that DOES NOT continue to support a bloated economic structure focused on war and the military.
Posted by: green.goddess | December 5, 2011, 6:35 pm 6:35 pm
“If growing government and running up debt is the key to prosperity, explain to me why we aren’t the most properous nation on earth?”
We ARE the the most prosperous nation on earth….and nobody said running up debt is the key to that prosperity. It is an entrenched part of the right-wing narrative to totally ignore the difference between the long term and the short term, and that debt is not our biggest problem right now, short term…..unemployment and a slow economy is, and the solution to that short term problem is increased spending, not less. Debt is a long term problem., which will only get worse if we don’t get the economy growing again soon.
Posted by: numbers | December 5, 2011, 6:40 pm 6:40 pm
Why on earth would anybody want to tell you we aren’t the most prosperous nation on earth? So they can continue the right-wing myth that we’re broke……when in reality there is a certain segment of the population which has never had more wealth than it does right now.
Posted by: numbers | December 5, 2011, 6:50 pm 6:50 pm
“The question you libs should be asking yourself is, why is Obama willing to de-fund social security just to use as a campaign weapon against the Republicans? How in the world can you be okay with that?”
Crickets
Posted by: foggy | December 5, 2011, 6:51 pm 6:51 pm
“The question you libs should be asking yourself is, why is Obama willing to de-fund social security just to use as a campaign weapon against the Republicans? How in the world can you be okay with that?”
Crickets
Posted by: foggy | December 5, 2011, 6:51 pm
In one ear and out the other………….Crickets for brains.
Posted by: Taintedbylies | December 5, 2011, 7:05 pm 7:05 pm
POSTED BY: FOGGY | DECEMBER 5, 2011, 6:51 PM 6:51 PM
The question you should be asking yourself is why are the Republicans willing to to coddle the super rich from taxes just to use as a campaign weapon against the Democrats. How in the world can you be okay with that?
Posted by: Art | December 5, 2011, 7:13 pm 7:13 pm
“The Democrats are the party of government and have an insatiable desire for spending.”
“Really? ”
I thought you would follow up your question with a rebuttal. Instead you went off on military spending as if the Democrats were opposed to that. They aren’t. Way too much opportunity for graft and influence peddling. Ask John Murtha or Duke Cunningham.
Oh and you do know that when you cut military spending you will cut jobs.
Posted by: foggy | December 5, 2011, 7:31 pm 7:31 pm
@art
Your question is nonsensical but your sycophancy is vibrant. Remind us of the last time you disagreed with your president.
Posted by: foggy | December 5, 2011, 7:37 pm 7:37 pm
“Wow! Did you happen to read the part of the article about off-setting the tax cut with an increase in taxes for those making a million dollars or more? It’s pretty simple math.”
Right. The government promises they will tax the rich for the next 10 years to pay back the non-existent social security trust fund. What’s Santa going to bring you this year?
Posted by: foggy | December 5, 2011, 7:47 pm 7:47 pm
Mary Bruce, instead of serving as a mouthpiece/platform for Obama, you should be investigating his involvement in the following.
Solyndra, Beacon Power, cozying up to the lawbreakers of OWS, the much-vaunted stimulus package that was supposed to keep unemployment from rising above 8 percent–but didn’t, Obamacare and CLASS, the screwing of the Chrysler bondholders, “shovel-ready” jobs that were not as shovel-ready as he hoped they’d be (he said with a chuckle), the NLRB and Boeing, failure to throw the book at the New Black Panther Party for Election Day misconduct, Operation Fast and Furious, the idiocy of attempting to try Khalid Sheikh Mohammed in federal court, nonsensical promises about Guantanamo, the infamous Apologizing for America tours…and on and on and on.
Would be nice if you probed Obama’s egregious ineptitude. Or is ABC going to give him a pass…just as it did in 2008?
Posted by: Jack Davis | December 5, 2011, 7:48 pm 7:48 pm
“Would be nice if you probed Obama’s egregious ineptitude. Or is ABC going to give him a pass”
You should just stick with Fox…they’ll tell you everything you want to hear.
Posted by: numbers | December 5, 2011, 8:04 pm 8:04 pm
Of course ABC will give obami a pass. Time for a new download from the rachel maddow show, obamatrons!
Posted by: jonny | December 5, 2011, 9:06 pm 9:06 pm
You should just stick with Fox…they’ll tell you everything you want to hear.
POSTED BY: NUMBERS | DECEMBER 5, 2011, 8:04 PM 8:04 PM
Better yet, just stick to right wing blogs written without any legitimate journalistic research or standards and then mouth what they say in list form, removing all doubt there is no authenticity whatsoever.
Posted by: jamie | December 5, 2011, 9:28 pm 9:28 pm
When my kids got into an argument and one came to squeal on the other I would tell them to work things out themselves! It seems that the President was never told that he needed to resolve things for himself. Grow up!!!!!!
Posted by: Common _ Sense | December 7, 2011, 9:34 am 9:34 am
When is the news media going to report President Obama ‘s hypocrisy ?
Posted by: Freedom | December 7, 2011, 11:25 am 11:25 am
lThis dude is no man’s man, is he? Everybody gets to do his dirtywork…..example: every once in awhile you get some mumbling about getting rid of bin Laden. It is not only a llie, it’s crap that he tries to cound it among the highlights of his rather short list of accomplishments………the Seals did the work to implement a plan initiated under GW Bush……..Obama got to sign the paper authorizing the plan………………………wow! isn’t he great?
Posted by: justj joey | December 7, 2011, 5:51 pm 5:51 pm
What a bunch of nonsense from a bunch of bloggers who couldn’t pass Econ 101 at a non-accredited community college, and who have apparently never read the US Constitution. The drafters of that marvelous document made sure that the President could never be a monarch. I spent 25 years as CFO of several successful companies, raising over $250 million in debt and equity financing – and none of it came from the super-rich 1%. People who say that raising taxes kills jobs cannot back it up with an example of just how that happens. It is a bald-faced lie promulgated by Grover Norquist, and he’s gotten dozens of elected Republicans to sign a no tax pledge that creates a conflict with their oath of office. This pledge has done more harm to America that Osama bin Laden could have done if he had lived another 10 years.
If the GOP doesn’t wake up and return to the principles that Abraham Lincoln espoused when he helped create the party, the party will be irrelevant after 2012. 70% of voters think that tax increases should be a part of the approach to solving the deficit problem, but Mr. Norquist and the pledge signing puppets disagree. Look for a disaster election for the current GOP in 2012, followed by the formation of a sensible, intelligent conservative party, with members like Dwight Eisenhower, Bill Buckley and Ronald Reagan.
Posted by: excfo | December 8, 2011, 1:52 am 1:52 am
In Michigan there is a new report showing public service employees who retire with pensions with an expected payout of over 6 million dollars. It was also exposed that government 401k matches of 4 dollars for every 1 of employee contribution were contractually negotiated. If this is repeated across the country it is no surprise that the private sector tax payers are upset! It is time for a “claw back” of government employees pay and benefits which are excessive!!! Wake up America blaming the top 1% is really a diversion while politicians are robbing us blind!!!
Posted by: Common _ Sense | December 8, 2011, 10:46 am 10:46 am