With unemployment at 9.6% and mid term elections around the corner U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said on Monday “If we want to keep America moving forward and if we want to get more men and women back to work we must keep investing in our small businesses,”
He is referring to a bill he hopes will get through the Senate this week that would make $30 Billion available to boost small business loans and extend tax write offs. He said “Once this bill becomes law, it will provide substantial financial benefits for small businesses and entrepreneurs”.
With the Democrats under pressure for their poor job creation record so far they need the bill so they can be seen as doing something about jobs.
Geithner also wants lawmakers to “move quickly” to extend middle class tax cuts. The Obama administration has relented recently to its strong opposition of extending tax cuts due to expire at the end of this year.
Economists now fear that increasing taxes in the new year with so much uncertainty in the economy and marketplace would be a big move in the wrong direction.
In response the administration has proposed to extend the 2001 & 2003 tax cuts initiated by the Bush White House for all but the top two percent of income earners. The Republicans have indicated they will support this move if nothing better comes along.
Tags: extend tax cuts, geithner, middle class tax cuts, small business write offs, tax cut extended
