One more year! Obama seeks to extend Bush tax cuts for middle-income families

President Barack Obama will call today for Congress to pass a one-year extension of Bush-era tax cuts for families making less than $250,000 a year, while allowing tax cuts for higher earners to expire, as he seeks to sharpen differences with congressional Republicans and their presidential candidate, Mitt Romney. Obama is putting his focus on the issue of tax fairness three days after a government jobs report showed the nation's unemployment rate stuck at 8.2 percent. By calling for a temporary extension of the middle-class provisions, he's seeking to place Romney on the defense while narrowing a gap with House Republicans, who have sought one-year extensions of all the tax cuts. Obama previously called for making the middle-class cuts permanent. “I think it's time to pay down some of our debts and deficits” while giving middle-class families “some real certainty,” Robert Gibbs, former White House press secretary and now a campaign adviser, said on NBC's “Today” show. Romney campaign spokeswoman Andrea Saul said in a statement that Obama's approach would amount to “a massive tax increase” for “families, job creators, and small businesses.” Romney Campaign “It just proves again that the president doesn't have a clue how to get America working again and help the middle class,” Saul said. She said Romney wants to lower marginal tax rates and “understands that the last thing we need to do in this economy is raise taxes on anyone.” Obama is scheduled to deliver his statement at 11:50 a.m. Washington time at the White House. The president's remarks from the East Room kick off a week in which he will travel to the electoral swing states of Iowa and Virginia and his campaign will hold events in New Hampshire, Nevada, Colorado and Florida intended to portray Obama as focused on middle-class taxpayers and Romney as attuned to the wealthiest Americans. Following today's announcement, Obama will spend part of the afternoon doing interviews with local television stations from eight television markets in states his campaign is counting on in November. Congress is returning from an Independence Day recess today. Lawmakers of both parties are discussing whether to postpone $1.2 trillion in spending cuts over a decade that are set to begin in January, though they may not advance legislation until after the November election. House Vote Later this month, the House plans to vote to extend the expiring tax cuts for all income levels for a year and set in motion a process that would lead to a more comprehensive overhaul of the tax code in 2013. That bill isn't expected to advance in the Senate, which is controlled by Democrats. If Congress doesn't act, the top tax rate for ordinary income will increase to 39.6 percent from 35 percent. The top tax rate on capital gains will increase to 23.8 percent from 15 percent, and dividends would be taxed as ordinary income. By drawing the line for tax increases at $250,000 for married couples and $200,000 for individuals, Obama sets up potential contrasts with two factions of senators in his party. Some Senate Democrats, including Ben Nelson of Nebraska, have expressed openness to negotiating with Republicans on extensions of tax rates for all income levels. Higher Incomes Others, including Charles Schumer of New York, say the line at which tax increases start should be set at $1 million. That approach would bring in much less revenue and be more politically defensible, particularly in high-income states such as New York and New Jersey where a greater percentage of taxpayers would be affected by Obama's threshold. In December 2010, Obama and congressional Republicans agreed to extend the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts for two years, letting them expire at the end of 2012. With job growth remaining stuck in June, Obama is looking for ways to convince voters that their economic situation will improve. U.S. employers added 80,000 jobs last month, lower than economists' forecasts and up only slightly from a 77,000 increase in May. Obama's lobbying on the tax cut extensions involves both his official and campaign advisers. Gibbs appeared on morning news shows today to promote Obama's message on taxes while highlighting the campaign's portrayal of Romney. Romney thinks “we should shower rich people with tax breaks” Gibbs said. “Those are the two different contrasting visions in this campaign.”