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 | If the meeting fails, expected by week’s end the political leaders meeting in the President. |
THE INTERVIEW An interview with a French or international personality from the world of economics, politics, culture or diplomacy with Andrea Sanke. www.france24.com www.france24.com
Obama Live September 8 2011 pushes Congress to act now on economy – politics – White House WASHINGTON – Calling it an “urgent time for our country,” President Barack Obama asked Congress on Thursday night to “stop the political circus” and approve a nearly half-trillion-dollar plan to help the economy by cutting payroll taxes, raising taxes on the wealthy and rewarding companies that hire new workers. “We continue to face an economic crisis that has left millions of our neighbors jobless and a political crisis that has made things worse,” Obama said in an address to a joint session of Congress. To answer that crisis, Obama was proposing what he called the American Jobs Act, which he said would cut payroll taxes in half for working Americans and most small businesses; boost spending on public works, like roads, by 5 billion; and make permanent a temporary cut in the individual tax rate, which was reduced from 6.2 percent to 4.2 percent for this year only. 1. Other political news of note 1. First Read: The CBO and short-term fixes The Congressional Budget Office released a report in January that looks at some of the short-term policies the president might ask Congress to enact in his speech Thursday night. 2. Analysis: Perry takes the heat but keeps on smiling 3. Perry’s Merck link in spotlight following vaccine order 4. Payroll tax cut likely hub of Obama’s jobs plan 5. Congressional debt reduction panel kicks off Obama calculated that the “typical working family” would …