President Barack Obama will continue to push for middle-class tax cuts as part of his economic agenda, but the White House is not considering a specific new tax cut plan at this time, a spokesman for Obama said on Saturday.
"Moving forward, the president does believe that cutting taxes for middle class families is an important part of his economic agenda. It is something he'll continue to push for," White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters.
He denied a Washington Post report that said the Obama administration is considering a tax cut to increase workers' take-home pay and replace the payroll tax reduction set to expire at the end of the year.
The Post said administration officials believed the economy could use further stimulus despite signs of improvement and were looking at a new tax reduction that could add hundreds of dollars to employees' annual pay and show up in every paycheck.
Earnest said the report was incorrect.
"The administration is not contemplating at this time a tax cut as described in the Post," Earnest told reporters. "I'm not trying to be clever. I'm trying to be as clear as I can."
A White House official told Reuters on Friday evening that the House of Representatives first needed to follow the Senate's lead and renew the payroll tax cuts first implemented in 2011 at Obama's request to provide an economic cushion.
Critics have questioned relying on a measure that cuts funds from the Social Security retirement system.
Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/10/27/us-usa-obama-taxcut-idUSBRE89Q01I20121027
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