The House of Representatives of the U.S approved an agreement Tuesday night at the last minute to avoid the so-called " tax clif...
The House of Representatives of
the U.S approved an agreement Tuesday night at the last minute to avoid the
so-called "tax cliff",
which would have meant higher taxes
for most Americans and automatic spending cuts
The vote in the House came after
a long day in which the Republicans were about to derail the compromise.
The bill passed the House
dominated by Republican opposition in a vote of 257-167 that ended shortly
after 23:00 local time, marking a victory for President Barack Obama, who must
now sign it to enter into force.
Monday morning the Senate, where
Democrats have a majority, was adopted by 89 votes in favor and 8 against an
agreement that delays the automatic cuts in government spending and extend tax breaks for most Americans.
Later Barack Obama spoke from Washington to celebrate the agreement, indicating
that the system was fairer tax,
emphasizing that you the next steps would be helpful to the middle class,
create jobs and promote investment not only outside the United States, but also
within the country.
DETAILS OF AGREEMENT
A significant number of
Republican members had demanded to introduce the bill in an amendment to cut
government spending by 300,000 million.
The move to amend the Senate
compromise would have meant, in fact, the death of bipartisan preliminary
agreement, due to lack of time to negotiate changes with the Senate before
installation day 3 of a new Congress.
Among other measures, the
legislation passed, which will take effect as soon as the firm Obama makes
permanent the current level of tax
rates to 98% of households and 97% of small businesses.
Rises, however, the tax for couples with annual incomes in
excess of $ 450,000, which will again contribute to a rate of 39.6%, as two decades
ago, rather than 35% today.
The agreement does not extend,
however, the temporary reduction of the payroll taxes that the Obama administration approved within the stimulus to
the economy, so that Americans themselves will be noticed from tomorrow a reduction
of wages net.
Through this combination of rate
increases and reduced deductions for the wealthy, the government expects to
collect 620,000 million in new revenue over the next ten years.
The law extended further for one
year the emergency unemployment subsidy that benefits to 2 million Americans.
Postponed, however, for two
months, the planned automatic cuts in federal government spending, which
portends further confrontation soon between Republicans and Democrats.
Obama agreed that the country's
deficit "too high" and declared himself "completely open"
to a commitment to reduce it, but in a "balanced".
