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Emanuel: Tax Cut Will Go Ahead

Obama opposes tying a free trade deal to stimulus package

By Drew Nelles, Newser Staff

Posted Nov 9, 2008 1:50 PM CST

(Newser) – White House Chief of Staff-designate Rahm Emanuel told This Week that Barack Obama will move ahead with his plan to cut middle-class taxes despite rumors to the contrary, Politico reports. Other highlights from the Sunday talk shows:

Emanuel also told This Week that Obama opposes tacking a Colombia free trade deal to a new economic stimulus package to secure the Bush administration’s approval, the Hill reports. To “have a strong recovery and a sustained recovery over a period of time means that the middle class must be the focus of the economic strategy,” he said.
Likely incoming minority whip Rep. Eric Cantor told Fox News Sunday that “Republicans in Congress will stand ready to work with this new president” to address the country’s problems, the Hill reports.

Transition team co-chair Valerie Jarrett told Meet the Press that "everything is a possibility right now” for Obama’s Cabinet, including keeping on some members of the Bush administration, CTV reports.
Transition coordinator John Podesta told Fox News Sunday that Obama will choose his team with record-breaking speed, the Chicago Tribune reports. "Across the board... I think he intends to move very quickly,'' Podesta said. "He's beaten a lot of records during the course of the campaign.''
House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn told Meet the Press that Obama “made it very clear during the campaign that he will govern from the center,” Politico reports. “It may, at times, be center right, sometimes center left, but always the center.”

[Images (5)]

[Videos (1)]

[Quotes (2)]

Rep. Rahm Emanuel, D-Ill., left, talks with Sen. Barack Obama D-Ill. in Chicago. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)

Rep. Eric Cantor, R-Va., right, told Fox News Sunday that "Republicans in Congress will stand ready to work with this new president." (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

In this photograph provided by "Meet the Press," President-elect Obama transition team co-chair Valerie Jarrett appears on "Meet the Press'" Sunday, Nov. 9. 2008, at the NBC studios in Washington. (AP Photo/Meet The Press, Alex Wong)

In this June 27, 2007 file photo, John Podesta speaks at the National Press Club in Washington. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File)

White House Chief of Staff-designate Rahm Emanuel listens during a news conference by President-elect Obama in Chicago, Friday, Nov. 7, 2008. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

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Rahm Emanuel tells This Week that Obama%u2019s economic plan %u201Cat this juncture is based on giving 95 percent of working Americans a tax cut..%u201D (hearthetruthamerica)

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I think that we have made significant mistakes in the past by lurching too far to the right or too far to the left. We have to bring things back to the center. - House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn

If you look at the roiling global financial situation...if you look at the fact that we’re still fighting in two wars, I think that the Republicans in Congress will stand ready to work with this new president. - Rep. Eric Cantor

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Emanuel: Tax Cut Will Go Ahead