Obama proposes tax cut extension only for families making less than $250,000

President Barack Obama is calling for Congress to pass a one-year extension to Bush-era tax cuts, which will dodge what many are calling the “Taxmaggedon.”

But it doesn’t apply to everyone.

The extensions will only apply to people earning less than $250,000 a year, according to CNN. The Obama campaign plans to focus on middle-class tax cuts while campaigning in battleground states this week.

Obama intends to shift November’s race towards policies concerning the middle class, claiming Romney’s policies only benefit corporations and wealthy Americans.

Romney’s campaign was not short on criticism toward Obama’s limited extensions.

"President Obama's response to even more bad economic news is a massive tax increase," Andrea Saul, the Romney campaign's spokeswoman, told CNN. "It just proves again that the president doesn't have a clue how to get America working again and help the middle class."

Obama’s proposed extensions would keep tax rates lower for families earning less than $250,000, but raise rates to 1990s levels for those earning more, according to CNN.

Many experts, including Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke, refer to the expiration of the Bush-era tax cuts as “Taxmaggedon.”

“The so-called fiscal cliff would, if allowed to occur, pose a significant threat to the recovery,” Bernanke told ABC News. “If no action were taken and the fiscal cliff were to kick in in its full size, I think it would be very likely that the economy would begin to contract or possibly go even into recession, and that unemployment would begin to rise.”

EMAIL: jferguson@desnews.com TWITTER: @joeyferguson