A group called TheAction.org is trying to end the Bush Tax Cuts for the wealthiest 2%, and extend the middle class tax cuts. They've enlisted Santa Claus' support.

Santa visits Washington and runs into the not-so-nice Congressman Paul Ryan. Tell Paul Ryan and other members of Congress to extend middle-class tax cuts before Christmas: http://bit.ly/UD13l2

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) on Sunday challenged House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) to bring middle-class tax credits up for an immediate vote to prove they wouldn't be "held hostage" to tax cuts for the rich.

"I challenge the Speaker right now to bring the middle income tax cuts to the floor," Pelosi told ABC's George Stephanopoulos, agreeing with Boehner that budget discussions shouldn't wait until after the election.

"Bringing middle-income tax cuts to floor now, passing those would help our economic recovery, would be a clear signal that the upper-end tax cuts for the wealthy will expire because middle-income tax cuts would not be held hostage to those."

Pelosi also said that the Speaker's threat to allow the government to default by blocking increases to the debt ceiling in order to force the Obama administration to accept deep budget cuts were "over the edge."

"Here we go again," she warned. "Last year, the threat of not lifting the debt ceiling caused our credit rating to be lowered. This is not a responsible, mature, sensible place for us to go. We all know we have to reduce the deficit. We have to do it in a balanced way. The Speaker wants to go over the edge."

(h/t: National Journal)

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Republican presidential candidate said Sunday that his "intent in running for president is to help middle-income Americans," but admitted that he would only give them a $167 tax cut.

Fox News host Chris Wallace asked Romney why his plan didn't cut tax rates for the richest Americans from 35 percent to 15 percent or less like his fellow Republicans wanted to do.

"I would love to see a tax system which brings down rates [for everyone]," Romney explained. "I'll work on a plan of that nature. The plans that I have seen so far that have been put forward of that nature have represented dramatic reductions in tax for the very highest income people."

He added: "And I'm not looking to dramatically reduce taxes for the wealthiest in our society, not that there's anything wrong with being wealthy. I'm pleased to have done very well myself. You understand that, others do. My intent in running for president is to help middle-income Americans."

"Your plan that would eliminate the tax on capital gains and dividends doesn't help [the middle class]," Wallace noted. "A recent study showed that a family making $75,00 a year -- in terms of what they would receive by eliminating capital gains and dividends -- $167, sir."

"Well first of all, $167 is not zero," Romney declared. "And number two, one of the reasons people don't save their money is that they don't see an incentive to do so. ... Look, I recognize it's not a huge tax cut. It is a tax reduction that allows middle-income folks to participate in making a brighter future for themselves and saving."

In October and again in December, the GOP hopeful called a payroll tax cut of $1,000 to $1,500 for middle-class Americans just "a little Band-Aid."

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While going after Herman Cain for his 9-9-9 tax plan and the fact that it would raise taxes on the middle class and the poor, Mitt Romney touted his own economic plan during the CNN debate in Las Vegas. Romney claimed he wanted to lower taxes on the middle class, but as Think Progress noted in their live blog of the debate, "It’s really a $6.6 trillion regressive giveaway to the rich and corporations."

Romney’s ‘Middle Class Tax Cut’ Would Provide No Benefits To Most Of The Middle Class:

During this week’s GOP primary debate, Newt Gingrich asked Mitt Romney why he has proposed eliminating capital gains taxes for only those making less than $200,000 annually (which is a key component of Romney’s economic plan). “If I’m going to use precious dollars to reduce taxes, I want to focus on where the people are hurting the most, and that’s the middle class,” Romney said. “The people in the middle, the hard-working Americans, are the people who need a break, and that is why I focused my tax cut right there.”

Romney may think he focused his tax cut on the middle-class, but according to a ThinkProgress analysis of Tax Policy Center data*, nearly three-fourths of households that make $200,000 or less annually would get literally nothing from Romney’s tax cut, due to the simple fact that most of those households have no capital gains income

To be exact, 73.9 percent of the households upon which Romney “focused” his tax cut will see zero benefit from it. The table below shows how few households in each income bracket would be affected by Romney’s cut:

More details there, so go read the rest.