Tuesday, the Obama administration sent out a passionate message regarding extension of payroll tax cuts for 2012.
We’ve been fighting for months to make sure taxes on the middle class don’t go up on January 1st.
This weekend, Democrats and Republicans in the Senate came together, compromised, and took a giant step to avoid just that. In fact, 89 senators approved an extension of the payroll tax cut. And 39 of them were Republicans, including GOP Senate Leader Mitch McConnell.
But now, a faction of Republicans in the House refuses to even vote on that compromise. And they’re on the brink of allowing taxes to go up on 160 million Americans.
Here’s part of the problem: A lot of people in Washington don’t understand what these tax cuts mean. A typical family gets about $40 with each paycheck from this tax cut, and opponents look at that and argue it doesn’t have an impact.
Just today, one House Republican referred to this debate as “high-stakes poker.” He’s right about the high-stakes, but he’s dead wrong about the poker. This is not a game.
We know better — $40 has tangible benefits for millions of families. Can you help us prove that point?
If Congress fails to extend the payroll tax cut, the typical family making $50,000 a year will have about $40 less to spend or save with each paycheck. Over the year, that adds up to about $1,000.
Opponents of the payroll tax cut dismiss its impact by insisting $40 isn’t a lot of money, but that’s not the case for many families who are already working hard to make ends meet. Forty dollars buys a tank of gas or a fridge and pantry full of groceries. It covers a water bill or the cost of a prescription.
The White House has asked the public to say what losing $40 dollars out of their weekly paycheck means to them. You can see current responses here on twitter and we’re curious how $40 less per week would affect you, you may respond in the comments below.
Senator Tom Coburn, representative from Oklahoma has released a 2011 Wastebook.
This is not a Christmas wish list. These are just some of the ways the federal government spent your tax dollars this year.
Over the past 12 months, Washington politicians argued, debated and lamented about how to reign in the federal government‘s out of control spending. All the while, Washington was on a shopping binge, spending money we do not have on things we do not need, like the $6.9 billion worth of examples provided in this report. The result: Instead of cutting wasteful spending, nearly $2.5 billion was added each day in 2011 to our national debt,1 which now exceeds $15 trillion.
Congress deadlocked over whether or not savings could be found by closing loopholes within the complex tax code. Meanwhile, the IRS approved roughly $1 billion in tax credits intended for energy efficiency home improvements to individuals who did not even own a house. These recipients included prisoners and children, some probably not even old enough to own a doll house. While Congress bickered over whether or not the salaries of federal employees should be frozen, the federal government paid $120 million to federal employees who were deceased.
You can download the full 98 page report, which contains 100 examples of government spending waste.
In other news North Carolina’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate dipped to 10 percent in November, down from 10.4 percent in October. North Carolina’s November unemployment rate is 1.4 percentage points higher than the national average, which sits at 8.6 percent.
A nonprofit group that wants to change the way presidential candidates are nominated is working to get a third candidate on North Carolina’s 2012 ballot.
Americans Elect, which plans an online convention in June to pick a candidate outside the Democratic and Republican parties, has obtained enough petition signatures to gain access to the presidential ballots in 13 states. California and Rhode Island became the latest states to approve the group’s petitions on Monday.
In North Carolina, the group needs more than 85,000 signatures to get on the ballot, and members have fanned out across the state to get voters to sign on to the idea of a third presidential option. (Read More)
You may visit their website to learn more at www.americanselect.org
Discuss and more on our Wednesday Open Lines!