President Obama continues push for middle-class tax cut

President Obama is will continue his push for the extension of middle-class tax cuts in remarks that were scheduled for 11:45 AM ET from the Old Executive Office Building in Washington, DC. The president is running a bit late, but we'll post live updates throughout the remarks as soon as they begin. You can watch them live here.

The Senate has approved an extension of those tax cuts, but House Republicans are holding them hostage, insisting that tax cuts for the wealthy be included in any extension of tax cuts. Mitt Romney, who is playing defense in the wake of the Tax Policy Center study showing his plan would force the middle-class to cover the cost of tax cuts for the wealthy, will be campaigning in Nevada.

8:55 AM PT: In Las Vegas, a Romney campaign event is getting under way. Romney's introducer is whining about Obama "taking money out of your pocket" to give it to people who are less fortunate. Much better to take money out of your pocket to give it to rich people like Romney. Because they deserve it.

8:58 AM PT: President Obama will begin in 2 minutes.

8:59 AM PT: Romney, in Las Vegas, says the economy is worse today than it was one year ago. I guess if by "worse" he means "more people have jobs today than one year ago," then he's wrong. Yet Romney still says this is the worst economic stretch in American history. Uh, Great Depression, Mitt?

9:02 AM PT: President Obama takes the podium with about a dozen middle-class taxpayers standing behind him at his side. "Like most Americans, they work hard and don't ask for much," Obama says. "They do expect their hard work to pay off though."

9:04 AM PT: "If we want to keep moving this country forward, these are the folks that are going to get us there." Obama then talks about the jobs report. "We've created 4.5 million jobs over the past 29 months ... but let's acknowledge that we've still got too many folks looking for work. ... We haven't had to come back from an economic crisis this deep or this painful since the 1930s [...] but we're not going to get there if we go back to the economic policies that created this mess in the first place." The last thing we shoudl be doing, Obama says, is raising taxes on middle-class.

9:05 AM PT: "We should give middle-class families and small business owners a guarantee that their taxes will not go up next year," the president says. "I was glad to see the senate extend tax cuts on the first $250,000 income." That would make sure 98% of Americans and 97% of individuals will not see taxes go up next year.

9:06 AM PT: On Wednesday [House Republicans] voted to hold these middle-class tax cuts hostage unless we spend $1 trillion on" tax cuts the for the wealthy. Worse, Obama says, 25 million taxpayers would see their rates go up under the House Republican plan, he says. "Those are their priorities."

9:08 AM PT: "This week, we've learned that there are some in the Republican Party who don't want to stop there," Obama says. He doesn't mention Romney by name, but talks about the Tax Policy Center study showing Romney's plan would raise taxes on the middle-class in order to cut taxes on wealthy. That, he says, is an example of "skewed" priorities. "The people standing behind me shouldn't have to pay more so the wealthiest Americans can spend less. That's not just top-down economics, that's upside-down."

9:08 AM PT: Instead of the upside-down Romney plan, Obama says, we should ask the wealthiest Americans to pay a little more. (Again, he doesn't mention Romney by name.)

9:10 AM PT: "For those of you keeping score at home, here's where we stand. ... We say we all agree on extending tax cuts for middle-class families. ... Let's at least work on what we agree on. Let's keep taxes low on 98 percent of Americans, and we can argue about the other 2 percent. Let's keep taxes low on 97 percent of small businesses, and we can argue about the other 3 percent." Obama says if Congress passes the senate legislation "I will sign it right away. ... Let's go ahead and give them that guarantee now."

9:11 AM PT: Obama also makes an important point: Everybody gets a break on the first $250,000 of income. Compared to current law, everyone gets a tax break if you extend tax cuts on the first $250,000 of income.

9:12 AM PT: "God bless America, and have a great weekend." With that the president wraps up his remarks. He's now shaking hands with the people who joined him on stage for his remarks.

9:15 AM PT: I don't really have much to add other than to say that Obama has the upper hand in this debate and he knows it'and he's not going to stop pressing his case. And I think it's pretty clear that when this subject comes up in the debates this fall, Romney is going to be in serious trouble.