NBC: 'Obama Scores a Win for Some 160 Million Workers'
As NBC co-anchor Amy Robach teased Saturday's Today show, she described the Republican House's passage of the Senate version of a temporary payroll tax cut extension as President Obama scoring "a win for some 160 million workers." (Video below)
But, after that initial suggestion than an Obama victory was synonymous with a victory for American workers, rather than the triumph of one option over another, the language in subsequent reports on the subject more reasonably referred to the development as a "political win for the President."
During the opening teaser, Robach declared:
Presidential push: President Obama scores a win for some 160 million workers as Congress passes a measure to extend the payroll tax cut through February, ending the year on a high note, as the Commander-in-Chief looks ahead at his reelection campaign.
After two reports on the subject ran - the first by Kelly O'Donnell and the second by Kristen Welker - Welker notably concluded by pronouncing that the President still be doing work even while on vacation:
Now, White House officials always make the case that the office of the presidency travels with Mr. Obama wherever he goes, so it will be a Christmas break, but we're sure there will be some work mixed in, Amy.
Below is complete video of NBC coverage of the tax cut extension from the Saturday, December 24, Today show:
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Comments
I am 1 of the 160 million!
Submitted by ThePickle on Sat, 12/24/2011 - 2:32pm.
Wow...the Government has deigned to allow me to keep more of my own money.... at least for a couple more months....Woo Hooo...I sure feel lucky
Social Security
Submitted by Jamson64 on Sat, 12/24/2011 - 2:33pm.
So workers provide less funds to Social Security and that is a win?
140.5 million but who's
Submitted by kg on Sat, 12/24/2011 - 3:15pm.
140.5 million but who's counting? Certainly not Obama. And as is customary with Obama Seniors citizens come up short.
"DumbAssity of Dope"
The Pickle
Submitted by Jamson64 on Sat, 12/24/2011 - 2:32pm.
It is not your money.
/sarc
Well that is what so many of
Submitted by ThePickle on Sat, 12/24/2011 - 2:47pm.
Well that is what so many of those dang libs keep trying to tell me at least..:)
Here are two questions for
Submitted by metaphorsbwithu on Sat, 12/24/2011 - 2:37pm.
Here are two questions for the media to stop ignoring and ask the president asap:
Will the Social Security tax holiday affect retiree benefits for current workers in the future since they won't be contributing as much to their "lock-box", and how much will it affect the amount of money collected for those in Social Security now?
Well, Obama must have created more jobs
Submitted by bkeyser on Sat, 12/24/2011 - 2:39pm.
than we're aware of, because the US Census Bureau lists the total number of employed in 2010 as 139 million.
So who are they?
Submitted by jon_torlin on Sat, 12/24/2011 - 4:03pm.
So if 139 million people are employed, who are the 160 million really referring to? And I don't mean the unemployed either. Interestingly enough, adding the two is the total current population of the country(not counting the illegals as dems are wont to do), but who are they really?
-Jon
21 million are cash under the table, gang.
Submitted by upcountrywater on Sat, 12/24/2011 - 4:14pm.
Sure they pay their fare share on the side.
Yup David Zucker was correct 4 Trillion and counting.
You Didn't Build That.
Classic Case Of Bureaucratic Stupidity
Submitted by Bourbeau on Sat, 12/24/2011 - 2:53pm.
The Republicans deserve exactly what they got in this debacle; Obama took them to the wood shed and then some. You would think someone would be demanding of Boehner and McConnell and explanation of what the hell they were thinking while this whole thing unfolded. It was nothing short of a colossal embarassment and they both were the culprits. Even worse, during all this hand wringing about getting the American workers their extra $40/week, I don't recall too many Republicans messaging how the Dems were rolling the Social Security Trust fund of much needed revenues to keep it solvent. Why wasn't that message heard? Why wasn't that a concern? There's times where the Republican Party makes me gag, and this is one of them.
True story, BB............we
Submitted by killa37 on Sat, 12/24/2011 - 3:07pm.
True story, BB............we can gripe all we want about these dog and pony shows, these smoke and mirror shams, or whatever the hell else we want to call them............but until 'our guys' (and I use that phrase VERY loosly) stop queebing out and giving in to media pressure, AND stop stabbing each other in the back, then we are going to continue to look like a bunch of disorganized and unsure of ourselves losers!! Don't EVER misunderestimate the Republicans ability to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory!!
And they also MUST finally realize that the MSM is NOT their 'friend', and they should treat them as such,and appoach their conversations and communtications with the American public in a different manner. Maybe just some straight-up truth and explanation would suffice, instead of kowtowing and being cornered by the MSM, as well as the Dems. If they are gutless enough to lose principled acts to the likes of Boy Barry Soetoro, Harry the Weasel, and any other of these dopes...........then they don't deserve to be there, and we deserve what we've got - since 'our guys' aren't playing to win.
A-freakin-men!
Submitted by Boudin on Sat, 12/24/2011 - 3:11pm.
Jellyfish comes to mind
perfectly
Submitted by Tatfreak79 on Sat, 12/24/2011 - 4:43pm.
coudn't agree more
Nothing but propaganda from
Submitted by rbosque on Sat, 12/24/2011 - 2:58pm.
Nothing but propaganda from the left. That money is easily swallowed up by increases in inflation, the devaluation of the dollar, increases in the CPI, taxes, and an ever-expanding mountain of regulations that in the long run we all have to pay for .
This is idiocy.
Wow, $40/month?
And apparantly this will be a
Submitted by killa37 on Sat, 12/24/2011 - 3:11pm.
And apparantly this will be a major-league accounting nightmare - since it's 'temporary', but all of the payroll work will have to adjust to it.................actually, the government stands to make a pile of money by levying fees, penalties, and interest on outfits who can't 'comply' with this moving accounting target within the timeframe.
And why didn't we ever hear about the draining 'contributions' to the Social Security 'fund' from the Republicans??? The whole thing is a big sham/scam.......as usual.
Bourbeau, I see you and the
Submitted by ferv888 on Sat, 12/24/2011 - 3:14pm.
Bourbeau, I see you and the ONE went to the same liberal schools of stupidity. 1000.00 tax holiday for the average tax payer comes out at less than 20.00 bucks per week not 40.00 bucks, the stupidity of a liberal is never ending.
Now if a MSM ever asks the question, how do you propose to pay for this tax cut, they should promptly tell them to kiss my butt and walk away. The SS trust fund will have over 200mm taken from it by short paying, live with that you stupid people and do not come crying for welfare when you finally discover the DIMWITS screwed you again.
FERV888
SS Trust Fund???
Submitted by gfrrman on Mon, 12/26/2011 - 12:57am.
ROTFLMAO!!!! People get this through your feeble minded brain...........
THERE IS NO SOCIAL SECURITY "TRUST FUND". IT DOES NOT EXIST. All $$$$ for SS payouts are IOU's. The Ponzi scheme is just that and perpetuated by our pos gov't. Plus, this "tax break" takes money FROM SS!! Where is the outrage from the left??? ...............crickets. So NOW, Democrats "want grandma to only afford dog food and not be able to pay their heating bills"!! THE definition of stupid hypocrite Democrats never ends
G
NBC/GE just cheerleaders for Obama
Submitted by BigAlSouth on Sat, 12/24/2011 - 3:25pm.
The statement scoring this as a "political win" was much more honest.
God, they are so desperate for something to cheer about for Obama that they have to score this measly 2 month holiday as a "win" when Boehner and the House were pushing a twelve month holiday.
Pathetic.
The good new is that...
Submitted by Order270 on Sat, 12/24/2011 - 3:27pm.
...in a week this will all be forgotten. The bad news is we are playing the "prevent defense". It's the 4th quarter and we have the lead. If we just play our game, we can't lose. Watch the NFL. At least a couple teams leading in the 4th quarter will lose today because they start playing up to the opponent's potential instead of playing up to their own potential.
"Lock Box" RAOFLMAO
Submitted by thestalkinghorse on Sat, 12/24/2011 - 3:49pm.
At this point, I don't see how full contributions will ever be restored. President Obama thinks that money just falls out of the sky, it is truly amazing.
obama bought votes for his
Submitted by robert108 on Sat, 12/24/2011 - 3:51pm.
obama bought votes for his re-election, and SS paid for them.
BHOOOOOOOOO
Submitted by dscott on Sat, 12/24/2011 - 3:51pm.
The GOP got skunked with the extension, it was actually a tax increase on upper income earners. Merry Christmas from Barack Hussein Obama.
IRS to Implement New 2% ‘Recapture Tax’ in Two-Month Payroll Tax Cut Extension
http://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2011/12/irs-to-.html
So Obama got his tax increase after all! Stupid, stupid Republicans. Can’t you guys do anything right? Pun intended. Not even the PR was handled properly, heads must roll! How could they possibly hang their hat on a one year deal to hold up this nonsense when they should have skewered the deal as a tax increase. INCOMPETENCE!
The GOP needs to be pointing out that for all the rhetoric put out there by BHO and Democrats all of it was pure propaganda.
1. In preserving the 2% reduction in the Social Security tax he personally along with Democrats who support this measure are undermining Social Security's financial position.
2. The gee we're so generous spiel is about NOT raising taxes was firstly a lie and secondly deceitful. a) a lie in that there is a TAX INCREASE provision and b) it was OUR money in the first place.
3. Notice the manner in which Democrats structured the tax increase? On the first two months of 2012 and a surprise tax bill that will be presented in 2013 (after the elections). Most people's pay raises start on January 1, so some people are presented with the situation of literally GIVING ALL OF THEIR PAY INCREASE to the government due to this stealth tax increase.
4. The entire wrangling over paying for the extension was BECAUSE Democrats didn't want their cronies (major campaign contributors) like GE, Solyndra, LightSquared and others to lose tax subsidies and credits, i.e. taxpayer dollars, that would be the basis of their profit margin. GE's entire profit for 2010 was strictly due to taxpayer dollars. The pigs eating at the trough were more important to Democrats than senior citizens or the average taxpayer. Some $350 BILLION a year wasted by the government in low hanging fruit that could be cut was already identified by the Back in the Black report. Democrats REFUSED.
5. Democrats REFUSED to gain tax revenue through the additional jobs and business activity via the Keystone XL Pipeline because that would undermine their cronies in the "green" tax scam occurring solely at the taxpayers expense. Just as Obama's morons at the Dept of the Interior are slow walking oil and gas drilling permits which would bring in billions of tax revenue every year.
BHOOOOOO to sleazy corrupt Democrats, BHOOOOOOOOOOO
EVERYONE AFFECTED BY THE 2% 'Recapture Tax' PROVISION SHOULD SPEAK IMMEDIATELY WITH THEIR EMPLOYERS TO DELAY THEIR PAY RAISE UNTIL MARCH.
Follow up, some spending Democrats refuse to cut
Submitted by dscott on Sun, 12/25/2011 - 2:35pm.
http://www.bluegrasspundit.com/2011/12/congratulations-your-government-s...
Congratulations: Your government spent $592,000 in your tax dollars to study why monkeys throw their feces
- $740,000 given to Montana State University tostudy how wild sheep can be used to control weeds.
- $132,000 granted to redesign a show website for PBS, Jonathan Bird's Blue World.
- $499,000 given to the Christopher Columbus Fellowship Society for no reason anyone can identify.
- $80,000 to upgrade a street median in Washington DC.
- $339,000 awarded by the National Science Foundation to study weaving in Iceland.
- $5,180,000 to fund the construction of a Steamboat Overlook Interpretive Center in Louisiana.
- $923,000 awarded by the National Science Foudnation to study how robots can be used to help pre-schholers learn to read.
On a lighter note of robots taking care of kids: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_Qc_nmSUGQ
These are ALL expenditures Democrats believe vital for government to keep the economy going. Isn't it nice that Democrats are indebting your children to advance the cause of liberalism?
That's just the tip of the
Submitted by killa37 on Sun, 12/25/2011 - 3:31pm.
That's just the tip of the ol' iceberg..............I'm sure that this list could just go on and on and on and on and on.....................you know - 'a few billion here, a few billion there - pretty soon it adds up to REAL money'!!!
lies
Submitted by Curly on Sat, 12/24/2011 - 4:17pm.
Not a win, not a 160 million, and it is a porkulus laden spending bill! Both parties need to be cleaned out top to bottom!!
Boehner
Submitted by Curly on Sat, 12/24/2011 - 4:19pm.
Boehner needs to be thrown out, neutered and placed in an asylum!
Obama wins? ... he gets an 8
Submitted by Captain Repus on Sat, 12/24/2011 - 4:21pm.
Obama wins? ... he gets an 8 week tax cut for folks against the evil Republicans who wanted a full 1-year tax cut for folks? ... help me understand
So, 'unemployment $$' is seen as a 'win?'
Submitted by ChrisNH on Sat, 12/24/2011 - 4:30pm.
I thought getting these people JOBS was the objective.
But I guess having given up (and failed) at that reasonable plan, OBAMA and Dim Libs are basically punting.
Did we get a Pipeline out of the deal?
Submitted by upcountrywater on Sat, 12/24/2011 - 5:09pm.
Ha. Next up twisting , valves on every pipe ( very slowly). That dares to cross into Gaia country.
Does O'bama pay the Hawaii's Transient Accommodation tax
That is the State view of all ya tourists...
Transient Accommodation Tax increasing to 9.25% On Thursday, the transient accommodations tax that Hawaii imposes on tourists staying in hotel rooms will have increased 30 percent in two years.
You Didn't Build That.
Of course not
Submitted by Boudin on Sat, 12/24/2011 - 5:21pm.
Obama wants to think about it. And the Repubs, (ya know the ones Jer never thinks we criticize) are happy to let him.
Back bends
Submitted by Restless Legs on Sat, 12/24/2011 - 5:23pm.
The media are bending over backward to be cheerleaders for Obama on this one. I still can't figure out how Obama is the hero here. Republicans wanted it for a year. Obama pushed for just two months. I guess it was a bad idea to do this around Christmas with a holiday deadline approaching. Republicans screwed up the PR game. Still, the media are not even trying to do journalism on this. They want Obama to have this "victory," and they are handing it to him on a platter. On top of that, the MSM ALWAYS ask Republicans "how are you going to pay for it?" whenever there's tax relief of any kind. Where are those questions for Obama? The bias is so transparent here.
So the liberals are fighting
Submitted by Tom Paine on Sat, 12/24/2011 - 7:37pm.
So the liberals are fighting tooth and nail to give the average worker a little over $1,000 for the year (approved in 2 month increments). Does anyone remember when the Bush tax cuts were first implemented and a parade of liberals poo pooed them saying they only amounted to a "couple thousand dollars a year" for the average taxpayer.
Add to this the fact that payroll systems are not designed to easily change the withholding rate every 2 months and you have a logistical nightmare for the average business so Obama can pretend to be a tax cutter.
What, no pizza night?
Submitted by metaphorsbwithu on Sat, 12/24/2011 - 10:31pm.
If people are getting to keep an extra $40 a week, it means their annual wages are $104,000, about $2,000 per week.
Will someone in the media ask why an individual making $2,000 a week under the Obama administration cannot afford "pizza night"?
What the hell is Reince Priebus doing?
Submitted by gopcongress on Sat, 12/24/2011 - 11:51pm.
The RNC is DEFINITELY out of the picture on this one. We have probably the crappiest, wayyyyy-behind the Tea Party times leader that one could have. Give the DNC credit: at least when their people started going off target, the organization was right there ensuring the political message was uncompromised.
As must as I hate to say it, in my opinion our WORST enemy is not the Democrats, but the 5th columnists within the RNC ranks who do NOT recognize that the media is part and parcel of the Socialist wing of the Democratic Party (redundant, I know). In other words, RINO's, at THIS time, present a greater threat to our country, simply because they DISGUISE the damaging aspects of non-constitutional authority into promoting their position as "sensible and moderate."
One thing Obama and the Democrats did was make it easy to identify the enemy. It's much easier to fight against a clearly-visible enemy than one that covers itself in the folds of "moderation." But with the coming elections, we had best be on our Tea Party game. We not only MUST retake the Senate, we must INCREASE the Tea Party (re: Constitutionist/conservative) influence in BOTH houses. Look at how this tax situation has been promoted: a BIG WIN for OBAMA; more importantly, they are promoting it as a BIG LOSS FOR THE TEA PARTY. This is KEY, folks. This is a full-blown war, figuratively; and if not taken care of in the next election, can migrate to literal war. I shudder to think of the consequences.
"The news and truth are not the same thing." -Walter Lippmann (1889-1974) FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER
160 Million workers? Where is this, China?
Submitted by NJRightWinger12 on Sun, 12/25/2011 - 2:22pm.
That would mean, in a country with about 310 million peiople, that at least one out of every two people are working. What about senior citizens? Kids? Illegal alines? Seems to me a bit high, dont you think, libs?
I doubted this number the
Submitted by killa37 on Sun, 12/25/2011 - 2:36pm.
I doubted this number the minute I read it..............but, like any other 'fact' or 'number' pulled out of thin air by either the government or the MSM, it probably won't be questioned. And I like the sanctemonious way that it is written..........we're called 'workers'.............sort of like ants??? I don't like being called 'folks' either - especially the way in which it is used. Why don't they just call us 'the proletariat', or 'the great unwashed', or 'the peasants'...............you know, all of us 'commoners' who live out in flyover country.
The USSA is the 'new' USA.
That should read illegal ALIENS!
Submitted by NJRightWinger12 on Mon, 12/26/2011 - 3:15pm.
I must have gotten my education in public school, lol!
In the Tank MSM?
Submitted by tomaspain on Mon, 12/26/2011 - 7:56am.
The BLS data says their are about 131 million workers and that a typical family income is $46,000. The President said $40 a paycheck yet many in the news business didn't bother to point out that President Obama assumed a bi-weekly pay period. If you accept the premise, the typical family would save less than $20 per week for 8 weeks. To pay so much attention to a silly squabble in Congress when jobs should be priority one is truly sad.
I have read the wording and
Submitted by ThePickle on Mon, 12/26/2011 - 12:25pm.
I have read the wording and intent of this piece of legislation and the first thing we need to do is to stop referring to these as tax "cuts" and most especially stop being sidetracked by the utterly bogus Democrat argument that this new legislation will put MORE money in the hands of those that will spend it' as ....... the two month EXTENSION of the CURRENT TAX STRUCTURE will NOT put any additional monies into the hands of ANYONE!!!!! They will continue to get the exact amount in their paycheck that they have been getting since the payroll tax cut was initially implemented.
Neither you, nor I, nor ANYONE, will see an INCREASE of as much as a single dime in our checks as a result of this EXTENSION.
Your's, mine and EVERYONE'S check will be EXACTLY the same as they were before this EXTENSION of the CURRENT TAX STRUCTURE and this EXTENSION did NOT "CUT" ANYTHING. It merely prevented the EXISTING payroll tax rate from "RISING"!!!!
Ok now that I have metaphorically screamed myself horse lets all repeat it one more time.
This was Not a Tax "Cut"
It merely EXTENDED the CURRENT PAYROLL TAX RATE.
You WILL NOT get any additional monies in your check as a result of this EXTENSION
The EXTENSION merely prevented the CURRENT TAX RATE for RISING.
10 months less of a tax cut!
Submitted by Quasi-socialist on Mon, 12/26/2011 - 4:46pm.
That's a win!! Of course, suggesting that it was wise to put this cut in in the first place...
This is propaganda. There were three options. The Senate's, a two month extension; the House's year extension; and no extension caused by a stalemate by BOTH houses. If the great thing is that we didn't have a stalemate, then it still stands that the Dem plan opposed the bigger holiday.