Obama to Pitch Trio of Economic Proposals in Ohio

President Barack Obama is voicing unwavering opposition to extending Bush-era tax breaks for the nation's wealthiest families even for a year or two, drawing a sharp contrast with Republicans eight weeks before the November elections.

Photo By: Pete Souza President Barack Obama is due to pitch a handful of new economic proposals Wednesday.

The president was to outline his stand Wednesday in a speech in Cleveland, where he also will propose a package of infrastructure investments and business tax incentives that the White House says will put the economy on a path toward long-term growth while allowing for some immediate job creation.

The Bush tax cuts, the most sweeping in a generation, are due to expire in January, setting up a big fight in Congress over what to do about them. Republicans and some Democrats want them to remain in place for a year or two or to make them permanent. Obama wants to make the tax cuts permanent for middle- and low-income families while allowing them to expire for individuals making more than $200,000 and married couples making more than $250,000.

The White House sees the issue as an opportunity to appeal to middle-class voters and independents who were crucial to Obama's election. In his speech, Obama will argue that the tax cuts for the wealthy would add $700 billion to the deficit, a sum the country can't afford as the economy struggles to recover.

House Republican Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, offered his own proposals Wednesday, saying in a nationally broadcast interview that Congress should freeze all tax rates for two years and should cut federal spending to the levels of 2008, before the deep recession took hold.

"People are asking, 'Where are the jobs?"' Boehner said, calling the White House "out of touch" with the American public.

Obama is asking Congress to consider three proposals:

—A $50 billion infrastructure investment to rebuild and repair the nation's roads, railways and runways.

—A permanent extension of research and development tax credits for businesses.

—Tax breaks to let businesses quickly write off 100 percent of their spending on new plants and equipment through 2011.

Senior administration officials said the three proposals would be the full extent of new economic policies the president would announce before the midterms, eliminating the possibility of a pre-election freeze on payroll taxes, an idea supported by many businesses.