From AOL NEWS:
With the Dec. 31 deadline looming for the expiration of the Bush-era tax cuts, President Barack Obama has confirmed that White House and congressional negotiators have agreed to a deal that would temporarily extend the current tax rates for all households, while also extending unemployment benefits for Americans who have been out of work for more than 26 weeks.
In remarks Monday night, Obama called the bipartisan agreement “the right thing to do” and detailed the framework of the deal, which would extend for two years the Bush tax cuts for all earners — both those making above and below $250,000 annually, while also continuing current tax rates on dividends and capital gains, also for two years. In addition, the estate tax, which expired in 2009, would be temporarily set at 35 percent, while extended unemployment benefits would continue for 13 months. Obama also said that negotiators had agreed to a temporary 2-percent cut in the payroll tax.
The president stressed his displeasure with several aspects of the agreement, especially the extended tax cuts for the highest earners and the 35 percent rate for the estate tax. But he said that he did not want to risk the expiration of the middle-class tax cuts in the likely event of a lengthy impasse between Democrats and Republicans in Congress…
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