I just got off a White House blogger conference call on the tax cut/unemployment insurance deal announced a little while ago by President Obama. A few key points:
*There’s stuff to like and to dislike in this deal.
*The #1 priority is jobs and not seeing taxes go up on working Americans, especially during tough economic times.
*The White House is very happy on the 13-month full extension in unemployment insurance.
*The White House is also very happy with the 2% payroll tax cut for workers.
*Combined, these offer the most potent “bang for the buck” in terms of jobs and growth you can get, will create more than 600,000 jobs next year, offer $120 billion in “tax relief”.
*The White House strongly objects/does not like extending the Bush Tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans (top 2% or so), also does NOT like the regressive adjustment to the estate tax.
*There are also other good things in there, such as a $1,000 child tax credit, business tax cuts to encourage investment and R&D, etc.
*The bottom line is that this was a compromise, neither side got everything it wanted, but it’s all about jobs and preventing a tax increase on the working and middle class in the midst of a fragile economic recovery.
*Also, the President believes this was a “very good deal” for jobs and for growing the economy. He feels that he got as much at this time as was possible, given the political realities. This was URGENT, we couldn’t wait and risk the economic recovery.
So, what do you all think? Have at it in the comments section…
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