White House #My2K Twitter hashtag enters "fiscal cliff" debate
President Obama is expected to deliver remarks on preserving middle class tax cuts Wednesday in the face of the approaching "fiscal cliff," but the White House is hoping Americans will chime in, as well, on the micro-blogging service Twitter.
Mr. Obama is promoting the hashtag #My2K to continue to the conversation about a potential tax increase on the middle class if Bush-era tax cuts are allowed to expire. The keyword #My2K was chosen specifically because, according to the White House, a middle class family of four could see a tax increase of about $2,220.
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A hashtag is a keyword or phrase preceded by a pound sign that aggregates similarly tagged posts on social media services, like Twitter or Instagram. The White House is hoping Americans will use the hashtag to weigh in on the tax debate.
The ongoing debate is to negotiate a deal to prevent going off the so-called "fiscal cliff" -- a phrase coined to describe the combination of tax hikes and spending cuts that are set to start at the end of the year.
Mr. Obama is holding an event with middle-class Americans on Wednesday and urging the public to press Congress to protect tax cuts for families earning $250,000 or less.
The president is also meeting with corporate executives at the White House on Wednesday and then traveling to Pennsylvania on Friday to push for upper income bracket earners to pay higher tax rates. It's part of a campaign to pressure Republicans in Congress to support raising taxes on the wealthy.
This isn't the first time the White House has used hashtags to spark a conversation on Twitter. Mr. Obama previously asked Americans to use the hashtags #40dollars and #dontdoublemyrate to discuss payroll tax cuts and the student loan interest rate, respectively.