Obama signs 858 Billion Dollar tax deal Friday December 2010

President Barack Obama plans to sign an $858 billion tax deal into law on Friday afternoon.

The House of Representatives gave final approval late Thursday night to the deal, negotiated by the White House and top Senate Republicans. The final vote of 277-148 had almost equal numbers of Democrats and Republicans in support.

The package includes a two-year extension of the Bush-era tax cuts set to expire December 31. It also would extend unemployment benefits for 13 months, cut the payroll tax by 2 percentage points for a year, restore the estate tax at a lower level and continue a series of other tax breaks.

The bill, which cleared the Senate 81-19 on Wednesday, passed despite objections from both the left and the right. However, the pending expiration of the lower tax rates dating back to 2001 created a deadline that forced both sides to accept provisions they had long opposed.

Obama and congressional Democrats yielded in their opposition to extending the lower tax rates to wealthy Americans and also agreed to a lower estate tax than had been scheduled to take effect. In return, Republicans led by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell agreed to extending unemployment benefits along with the payroll tax cut and other tax breaks that conservatives generally oppose as government stimulus measures.

Senate Republicans insisted on all taxpayers getting the same treatment. They used filibusters to block Democratic measures that would have limited the extended tax cuts to individuals earning less than $200,000 a year and families earning less than $250,000 a year, and then those earning less than $1 million a year.

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[gmco4]

The 2% you complain about pays roughly 40% of the taxes the lower 50% you want to give tax breaks to dont pay any and get money back and thats a bunch of crap. And its none of your business what someone make or does with it. you should get a job so you can get the baby his/her own room and maybe get your bed off the floor. You should be more concerned with what your doing and less concerned with whos going to pay you not to work. Tax producers till they wont produce right, and there not tax cuts

[TheMindlessGarbage]

i work full time.

[sunoco85]

Right!, And how 'bout those richy-riches that buy those huge, luxurious yachts! We ought to impose a tax on those that buy them!

[thejimmyzshow]

The 'cost' is BS - keeping tax rates THE SAME does not increase cost to the federal govt. Unemployment benefits extension is also BS - No one who has exhausted their 99 weeks will see a penny.