Obama to Push Extension of Middle-Class Tax Cuts

From Laura Meckler, at the Wall Street Journal (via Memeorandum):

President Barack Obama on Monday proposed a one-year extension of the Bush-era tax cuts for families earning less than $250,000 a year, an effort to shift the conversation from the sagging economy toward tax fairness.

Mr. Obama appeared in the East Room, surrounded by people who would benefit from the extension. It is another display of the power of incumbency, which lets a president command attention for his ideas in grand surroundings not available to his challenger.

President Obama is launching a push to extend tax cuts for the middle class, Sara Murray reports on Markets Hub. (Photo: Getty Images)

His campaign will amplify the message with a series of battleground-state events this week, and Mr. Obama will make the same case on a campaign trip to Iowa on Tuesday.

The president has long supported a permanent extension of the tax cuts for families earning less than $250,000 and has called for cuts aiding wealthier families to expire.

But Monday's event marked the first time he specifically called for a one-year extension for the lower-earning group.

"Let's not hold the vast majority of all Americans and our entire economy hostage while we debate the merits of another tax cut for the wealthy," Mr. Obama said.

Senate Democrats plan a vote in the next month on the proposal, which will amplify Mr. Obama's message, though it is not expected to pass. Indeed, no resolution on the issue is expected until after the November election.

And here's the headline at Wizbang, "Obama to Shift Focus From Dismal Jobs Outlook to Raising Taxes."

Well, it's just more class warfare, in any case. And if Team Romney gets its act together they'll be out with rapid reaction taking points hammering Obama on his ObamaCare tax boondoggle, and all the rest of the costs this administration has imposed on average Americans. See more at the Foundry, "Obama Finally Enters the Taxmageddon Debate—With a Tax Increase," and at the Weekly Standard, "Obama Tax Increase Would Hit Business Owners Hard."

Plus see all the coverage at Memeorandum.