President discusses tax bill and New START Treaty

In his weekly address, President Obama praised the recently passed tax bill and encouraged Congress to ratify the New START Treaty.

Citing the entirety of the tax bill as an economic boost, President Obama listed some of the benefits Americans will experience:

“Instead of a New Years Day tax hike on the vast majority of Americans, two million Americans who’ve lost their jobs through no fault of their own will now know with certainty that they won’t lose their emergency unemployment insurance at the end of the month. Eight million college students who’d otherwise face a tuition hike next semester will continue having access to the American Opportunity Tax Credit. 12 million families with 24 million children will benefit from extensions of the Earned Income Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit. And millions of entrepreneurs who’ve been waiting to invest in their businesses will receive new tax incentives to help them expand, buy new equipment, or make upgrades, freeing up money to hire new workers.”

However, the President quickly pivoted to another very important subject, the New START Treaty. The nuclear arms agreement between the United States and Russia has yet to be ratified by the Senate, leading to further criticisms of partisan bickering and political sparring matches. In his weekly address, the President argued that national security is bigger and more important than political gamesmanship:

“Without a new treaty, we’ll risk turning back the progress we’ve made in our relationship with Russia, which is essential to enforce strong sanctions against Iran, secure vulnerable nuclear materials from terrorists, and resupply our troops in Afghanistan. And we’ll risk undermining American leadership not only on nuclear proliferation, but a host of other challenges around the world. Ratifying a treaty like START isn’t about winning a victory for an administration or a political party. It’s about the safety and security of the United States of America.”

President Obama’s Weekly Address:

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