Obama: ‘Unacceptable’ For GOP To Take Middle Class Taxes ‘Hostage’

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In his Saturday weekly address, President Obama urged the public to push Republicans to pass middle income tax cuts and drop their demand to also extend lower rates for the wealthy. The GOP was prepared with a response, accusing him of a “classic bait and switch.”

Speaking from a factory in Hatfield, Pennsylvania, Obama said:

It’s unacceptable for some Republicans in Congress to hold middle class tax cuts hostage simply because they refuse to let tax rates go up on the wealthiest Americans.  And if you agree with me, then I could use your help.  Let your congressman know what $2,000 means to you.  Give them a call.  Write them an email.  Or tweet them using the hashtag “My2K.”  That’s My2K.

You and your family have a lot riding on the outcome of this debate.  We all do.  And as citizens, we all have a say in the country we want to build – not just on election day, but every day.  So make your voice heard.  I promise, it makes a difference.  Thanks, and have a great weekend.

Senate Republicans, in response, accused him of pulling a “classic bait and switch” by proposing an opening bid with $1.6 trillion in new tax revenues after winning re-election.

The GOP’s weekly address was delivered by Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch.

“The President has said he wants a so-called balanced approach to solve this crisis,” he said. “But what he proposed this week was a classic bait and switch on the American people—a tax increase double the size of what he campaigned on, billions of dollars in new stimulus spending and an unlimited, unchecked authority to borrow from the Chinese.  Maybe I missed it but I don’t recall him asking for any of that during the presidential campaign. These ideas are so radical that they have already been rejected on a bipartisan basis by Congress.” 

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