After a marathon session of negotiations that went down to the wire, the U.S. Senate moved to bring the country back from the brink of the fiscal cliff.
The Senate voted 89-8 in favour of a deal, which would raise taxes on the wealthy while maintaining low middle-class tax rates, to avert the fiscal cliff.
While the deal technically wasn’t voted on, signed and sealed before the midnight deadline, with the New Year holiday there will be little real-world effect.
The bill still needs support of the Republican-controlled House of Representatives, however.
Assuming the bill is passed through the House, it will prevent a sweeping group of spending cuts and unanimous tax-hikes that were set to automatically come in effect.
Obama said the deal is “the right thing to do” for the U.S., adding that he’s encouraging the House to “pass it without delay.”
The agreement extends the Bush-era tax cuts for individuals making under $400,000 and households making under $450,000.
It would also raise the estate tax for people valued more than $5 million dollars.
It also extends unemployment benefits for one year for approximately 2 million Americans.
The automatic spending cuts will be postponed for 2 months and paid for by other spending cuts, giving lawmakers more time to plan how to tackle the nation’s massive debt.
The next big deadline will likely come around the end of February, when the Treasury Department will have to come up with some sort of plan to increase or extend the nation’s $16.4 trillion debt ceiling.
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I agree with Toronto people. We are almost trapped by China.
Will our little boy think and do like Obama do for his nation?
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@Toronto People….The big difference is that we treat the middle class as a class of sheep that should be milked into extinction to ensure the corporations pay less tax and we have enough money to support every special interest group on the planet to buy votes. Our tax system imposes taxes on Canada’s “wealthy” which are defined at $120K, not $400K. The concept of taxing the family doesn’t exist here, as in other developed countries (i.e. makes no difference if one person makes $100K or two make $50K) because it would dramatically cut the tax burden on families with children. That’s bad if you are addicted to spending and would give benefits to families with children over singles, gays and lesbians. We are addicted to spending, equality and immigration. Why waste your money on children, the future of Canada, when you have to wait 18 years for them to be able to vote. Bring in tens of thousands of refugees who will vote Liberal or NDP in less than 7 years instead. The math is pretty simple, so no worries. Few Canadian politicians will go out of their way to help Canadian families and the middle class.
This is very effective idea for Canada that raise taxes on the wealthy while maintaining low middle-class tax rates, stop new immigration, stop work permits and also extends unemployment benefits and social helps for the Canadians and Canadian families who have no jobs..
Will our little boy think and do like Obama do for his nation?
Will our government help us before helps others?