President Obama Discusses What $40 Means for Americans Families

President Barack Obama delivers remarks on the impasse in Congress over the payroll tax cut extension during a statement in the South Court Auditorium of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, Dec. 22, 2011. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

Today, President Obama gave an update about the status of the payroll tax cut.

When the spoke, the people standing behind him were all Americans who would see their taxes increase if the House of Representatives doesn't take action.

Each of them was at the White House because they wrote in to tell us what they would have to give up if they lost $40 with every paycheck.

The President said:

[On] Tuesday, we asked folks to tell us what would it be like to lose $40 out of your paycheck every week. And I have to tell you that the response has been overwhelming.  We haven't seen anything like this before.  Over 30,000 people have written in so far -- as many as 2,000 every hour. We’re still hearing from folks -- and I want to encourage everybody who's been paying attention to this to keep sending your stories to WhiteHouse.gov and share them on Twitter and share them on Facebook.

The responses we’ve gotten so far have come from Americans of all ages and Americans of all backgrounds, from every corner of the country. Some of the folks who responded are on stage with me here today, and they should remind every single member of Congress what’s at stake in this debate. Let me just give you a few samples.  

Read the full statement here.

Learn more:

• Read stories from Americans saying what $40 means to them.
• So far, more than 30,000 have written in. Check out the infographic.