NO CHANCE

Obama Won't Extend Tax Cuts for Wealthy

Daring GOP to oppose economic package.

President Barack Obama is playing hardball. He will announce on Wednesday that there will be no possibility of extending the Bush-era tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans, creating an election-year showdown for Congressional Democrats. Obama’s economic package proposes an extension of tax cuts for the 98 percent of Americans with incomes below $250,000 for couples and below $200,000 for individuals. By not extending the tax cuts for the wealthiest, voting against the plan can be seen as a choice between supporting only the rich or supporting the middle class. Obama's plan could backfire, though, given his diminishing popularity and that this plan has been labeled by some as the “second stimulus.” In a speech in Cleveland on Wednesday, the president will push the economic package, which also promises $180 billion in expanded business tax cuts and infrastructure spending.