Obama Sends Jobs Bill to Congress

On Monday, President Barack Obama released the American Jobs Act (PDF) to Congress, including tax credits for new hires and an expansion of the payroll tax cut.

Obama had revealed the basic framework of the bill during an address to a joint session of Congress on Sept. 8. The bill includes tax breaks for companies to hire unemployed workers and veterans and for small businesses to raise wages. It also includes an extension of the payroll tax cut and unemployment benefits, as well as money to fund infrastructure and school construction projects.

The bill would expand the payroll tax cut passed in December 2010 to cut workers’ payroll taxes in half for 2012. It would also halve the taxes paid by businesses on their first $5 million in payroll. It would completely eliminate payroll taxes for companies that increased their payrolls by adding new workers or increasing the wages of current workers, capped at the first $50 million in payroll increases.

Read the full article at vscpa.com and sound off in the comments. Can this bill help put unemployed Americans back to work?