After the Senate voted 89–8 on a compromise budget deal, the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012, the House also passed the bill 257–167.
After attaining the necessary bipartisan support, the bill ensures that the once-looming budget cuts have now been postponed until March 1. The bill also preserves the Bush-era income tax cuts for individuals earning less than $400,000 and for couples earning less than $450,000.
Before Congress finalized its allocation of the bill, and amid bipartisan unrest, President Obama noted that while neither Democrats nor Republicans were going to get everything they wanted, an agreement was the right thing to do for the country.
After the bill successfully passed through the hands of Congress, however, the president sang praises of the Legislature’s cooperation. “I want to thank all the leaders of the House and Senate,” Obama said at the White House after the bill was passed, according to a CNN transcript. “I want to thank you for your great work.”
Even though he is set to sign it into law, the president knows that there is still much more work to do.
“The fact is the deficit is still too high,” he continued. “But we are continuing to chip away at this problem step by step.”
