Obama Brings Tax Message To Orlando
MIAMI (CBSMiami) – Fresh off a non-partisan study that hammered Republican Mitt Romney's tax proposal as being disproportionately harsh on lower and middle income workers; President Barack Obama traveled to Orlando Thursday to continue hammering a similar message.
The President criticized not only Romney's plan, but the GOP-led House's vote to extend the Bush-era tax cuts for everyone.
"Mr. Romney, his friends in Congress, they basically believe that if we just give more tax cuts, on top of the Bush tax cuts, to the wealthiest Americans, and we get rid of regulations we have placed on Wall Street banks, for example, to make sure we don't have another crisis, or on the health care industry to make sure they don't discriminate against you if you got a pre-existing condition, that somehow, if we cut taxes for folks at the top and get rid of regulations, this will lead to more jobs and prosperity for everybody," Obama said.
Obama has pitched a plan, which has been approved by the Senate that would extend the Bush tax cuts for households making less than $250,000 or for individuals who make less than $200,000. The difference between the two plans is central to the Obama campaign.
The president's campaign is trying to highlight the difference between the two party's competing tax plans. Democrats are critical of the GOP-led plan which would benefit wealthy tax payers more than the middle-class. The GOP criticizes the president for wanting to raise taxes on job creators.
"Look Orlando, they have tried to sell us this trickle-down, tax cut, fairy dust before," Obama said. "And guess what? It didn't work then. It will not work now."
The fly in the ointment for the GOP position will be the President's usage of recent history under President Bill Clinton. During Clinton's presidency, the wealthiest Americans paid a higher tax rate than currently and the economy created millions of jobs.
However, this is a much different economic situation, which will make the President's pitch more difficult. It will be compounded by the recent campaign by Romney which took a quote out of context and is making it a campaign issue.
Obama's visit to Orlando will come just a day before a key economic report will be released. The July jobs report is set to be released on Friday. Economists have said that the country's four-week average of unemployment claims is roughly 366,000.
Typically, a number under 375,000 is enough to lower the unemployment rate. If the unemployment rate drops below 8 percent Friday or down to 8 percent; it will present a conundrum for Republicans who have slammed the president for having an unemployment rate above 8 percent.
Moving forward, the economy could be poised to add more jobs as the winter shopping months approach as consumer savings have increased over the past few months.
But, with a contentious fight over the Bush tax cuts, defense cuts, and other issues still ahead for a hopelessly partisan House of Representatives; businesses and investors could sit on the sidelines until more definitive answers are revealed.
Obama's Orlando visit is a make-up for an appearance he postponed last months after the tragic shootings in Aurora, Colorado. His visit to the I-4 corridor will likely not be his last as the presidential election hits its final 100 days.
