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White House says Obama would veto Republican tax cut
U.S. President Barack Obama makes a statement announcing a plan to crack down on manipulation in oil markets, in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, April 17, 2012.
Credit: Reuters/Jason Reed
WASHINGTON |
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House said on Tuesday that President Barack Obama would veto a small business tax cut proposal by Republicans in the House of Representatives that his Democrats complain is biased toward helping the rich.
A partisan fight over the bill, which is set to come up for a vote on Thursday, mirrors a wider election-year battle between Obama and his likely Republican challenger Mitt Romney over tax policy and how best to grow the U.S. economy and shrink huge federal budget deficits.
It also follows the failure of the Democratic-controlled Senate on Monday to advance Obama's "Buffett Rule" legislation, named after billionaire Warren Buffett, to impose a minimum 30 percent income tax on millionaires.
The Republican bill would give a one-year, 20-percent tax deduction on business income to owners of businesses with fewer than 500 employees. Republicans portray that tax cut as one for small businesses, a group they say the Buffett Rule will harm.
Democrats say the group that would gain the most includes wealthy lawyers and consultants.
"Independent non-partisan analyses confirm that 49 percent of the bill's benefits would go to taxpayers making more than $1 million per year," the White House said in a statement.
The bill faces stiff opposition in the Democratic-controlled Senate, making it unlikely to ever make it to Obama's desk. But the White House said that if it did, the president's senior advisers "would recommend that he veto the bill."
(Reporting By Alister Bull; Editing by Eric Walsh)
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Yes, ChuckK, the Democrats are definitely “tax and spend,” but the Republicans are “borrow and spend.” Bush and Cheney borrowed us into the mud and now we’re wondering if we’ll ever get out. So, if the USA is going to spend is it better to tax and spend or borrow and spend? It is the spending part that has to slow down for awhile. Will Romney slow spending? He says he will but I think he is fibbing about that. We shall see.
Except for the fact that Obama has cut taxes for most working class Americans, reduced spending in major areas like health care, and demanded across-the-board cuts totaling over two trillion dollars.
Stop believing the spin and pay more attention to the facts. You owe it to yourself to be a more informed participant in this democracy.
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