Obama will tax wealthy Americans, says key adviser

New York, Nov.9 : U.S.President-elect Barack Obama will act on his campaign promise to tax the wealthiest Americans, an Obama senior adviser has told the New York Daily News.

He said that Obama plans to raise taxes on the wealthy by asking the Democratic-controlled Congress to allow President Bush's tax cuts to expire at the end of 2010. When they expire, it could pump in about 72 billion a year toward balancing the budget, according to the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center.

Obama will also move quickly with his promised middle-class tax cut, even before the taxes on the rich expire, top Obama and congressional aides confirmed Saturday.

"In the campaign, Barack Obama proposed tax cuts for middle-class families as part of an overall plan that is a pro-growth, pro-jobs net tax cut.His views on how to get the economy growing have not changed," said ," Obama senior adviser Stephanie Cutter.

Obama promised Friday "to hit the ground running" to tackle the nation's economic woes.

In the interim, he has urged President Bush to extend unemployment benefits, increase food stamps and approve a construction jobs bill to stimulate the economy.

ANI