52 Reasons to Vote for Obama: #5 Cut Taxes for 160 Million Middle-Class Americans

Whether you're PRObama, NObama, or still undecided, 52 Reasons to Vote for Obama gives you all the information you need to share with friends, debate with relatives and decide for yourself as we head toward one of the most important elections of our lifetime. I'll post a new reason in random order every Monday through Friday from now 'til the election.

Less than one month after Barack Obama became president, he started cutting taxes for the middle class. And he hasn't stopped since. In fact, Obama has cut taxes far more than George W. Bush did during his first term. The total value of the Bush tax cuts were about $474 billion during his first four years. Obama's total? More than $1 trillion, and growing.

Here's how it breaks down:

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, aka the Stimulus, became law in February 2009 and included $282 billion in tax breaks, according to the White House:

• Nearly all working families received a well-earned tax cut.

• Millions of families were lifted out of poverty by the tax cuts in the Recovery Act.

• More than150 billion in tax cuts helped low-income and vulnerable households.

• About one million jobs were created or saved by these tax cuts alone.

In December 2010, President Obama cut taxes for the middle class again:

• Middle-class tax cuts were extended to prevent a typical working family from facing a tax increase of more than $2,000 on January 1, 2011.

• A 2 percent payroll tax cut was provided to 160 million workers -- giving the average working family an additional $1,000 tax cut. The American Opportunity Tax Credit was continued, providing up to $10,000 for four years of college, helping more than nine million students and their families afford higher education.

• Expansions of the child tax credit and the earned income tax credit were extended, offering a tax cut for 15.7 million families and their 29.1 million children.

This February, Obama cut taxes another $120 billion by extending the payroll tax cut to the end of the year, saving the typical working family about $40 a paycheck, or roughly $1,000 a year.

In just two years, President Obama cut taxes more than George W. Bush did during his entire first term. And most of the Bush tax cuts were for the wealthy. President Obama's tax cuts are focused where they are needed most -- squarely on the middle class.

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Comments

[Sonia Elizabeth]

12:49 AM on 09/26/2012

Obama and Biden 2012