Dems will vote on just middle class tax cuts, Hoyer says

And You Wonder Why You Had A Rough November...
Steny Hoyer, the number two in the House Dem leadership, told Democrats at a Caucus meeting this morning that they would get to vote this year on just extending the Bush Tax Cuts for the Middle Class, a senior Dem aide tells me, signaling support for a confrontational move towards the GOP that Liberals have been pushing. Asked if Democrats would definitely get a chance to hold this vote, the senior aide responded: "Definitely." Hoyer's declaration comes as Democrats have been debat...

Top Finance Committee Republican Confirms GOP Will Hold Middle-Class Tax Cuts Hostage
Top Finance Committee Republican Confirms GOP Will Hold Middle-Class Tax Cuts Hostage Yesterday, House Democrats finally decided that they will bring a bill to the House floor extending the Bush Tax Cuts for only those making less than $250,000 per year. “That is the plan,” Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) told a reporter yesterday. The situation in the Senate is significantly muddier, however. While Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) has said he will hold a vote on ...

Steny Hoyer pushes for a standalone vote on middle class tax cuts
I'm no fan of Steny Hoyer and did not want to see him take over leadership for the Dems in the House, but the latest from him is quite encouraging to the upcoming narrative. Steny Hoyer, the number two in the House Dem leadership, told Democrats at a Caucus meeting this morning that they would get to vote this year on just extending the Bush Tax Cuts for the Middle Class, a senior Dem aide tells me, signaling support for a confrontational move towards the GOP that Liberals have been pushing. ...

Dems hold ground at W.H. meeting - POLITICO.com Print View
For a day at least, House and Senate Democrats agreed on a Tax-cut strategy, taking a hard-line stance that only the Middle Class should continue to get the savings but that taxes should rise on the wealthy. But there’s no indication they’re close to having a clear path for a deal. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told President Barack Obama during a White House meeting Thursday that House Democrats remain firmly committed to allowing Bush-era Tax Cuts to expire for earners making more t...

Tax Cut Votes Symbolic; Much Gridlock and Bargaining Expected
So it appears that the House and Senate will hold votes on extending the Tax Cuts up to the first $250,000 of income, and letting the rest expire. But they don’t appear to be particularly hopeful that such a plan will actually pass. “I think there’s a reality here which is that while it might be best to continue the Middle-class Tax Cuts and raise taxes on higher income people, the votes are not there to do that,” said Sen. Joseph Lieberman, a Connecticut independent wh...

Hoyer: House Will Only Vote on Middle-Class Tax Cuts
Greg Sargent reports that House Democratic Majority (and soon to be Minority) Leader Steny Hoyer (Md.) has confirmed his party will push a vote on the Middle-class Tax Cuts — and only the Middle-class Tax Cuts — during the Lame Duck. Moreover, he’s convinced he’ll get one: Steny Hoyer, the number two in the House Dem leadership, told Democrats at a Caucus meeting this morning that they would get to vote this year on just extending the Bush Tax Cuts for the Middle Class, a...

Dems plan vote on middle-class tax cuts
Published: Nov. 18, 2010 at 8:02 PM House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD), who will be the Assistant House Minority Leader in the 112th Congress, speaks following the House Democratic Caucus leadership Elections for the upcoming Congress, in Washington on November 17, 2010. UPI/Kevin Dietsch WASHINGTON, Nov. 18 (UPI) -- U.S. House Democrats plan to hold a separate vote on the extension of Tax Cuts on incomes less than $250,000, an aide to the Majority Leader told The Hill. "There will be a vo...

NationalJournal.com - Tax Extension Not Necessary, Clyburn Says - Friday, November 19, 2010
Jim Clyburn says that he hopes there is a deal on taxes, but does nor think that one is essential. Jim Clyburn says that he hopes there is a deal on taxes, but does nor think that one is essential. Rep. James Clyburn of South Carolina, the new No. 3 leader of House Democrats in the 112th Congress, said it’s not “essential” for Congress to extend the Bush Tax Cuts because if all Income taxes go up as scheduled on January 1, “you’ve got a big Deficit reduction takin...

GOP response: Vote to continue just middle class tax cuts = tax hike
Michael Steel, a spokesman for John Boehner, emails a response to the news that House Dems are planning to hold a vote just on extending the middle class tax cuts: "The last thing our economy needs right now is a massive tax hike on families and small businesses -- and that's what this plan would mean." This is not the first time a vote just on extending the middle class tax cuts has been cast as a "tax hike." Orrin Hatch made the same argument the other day. The idea app...

Hoyer 'disappointed' in GOP leaders for postponing White House meeting
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) criticized Republican Leaders today for delaying a Bipartisan meeting proposed by the White House to discuss economic concerns including the Bush-era Tax Cuts, saying that he was "disappointed" by their actions. "I can never remember an instance that President Bush asked me or the Democratic leadership to come down to meet with him and then we did not accommodate our schedule to that request," Hoyer said in a pen-and-pad briefing w...

Hoyer Says Dems Will 'Definitely' Vote On Just Middle Class Tax Cuts
As Greg Sargent first reported in the Washington Post, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer told Democrats in a closed-door meeting today that there would "definitely" be a vote on extending just the Middle Class Tax Cuts before the end of the year. A Dem lawmaker confirms to TPM that the House will hold a Middle-class only vote. As we reported earlier this week, the Republicans' top Tax guy in the House threatened that he and the rest of the GOP would vote to block any Tax Cut for the middle cla...

Democrats Plan to Vote Only on Middle Class Taxes
Greg Sergent reported that House (not for long) Majority Leader Steny Hoyer has confirmed that the Democrats will call a vote only on whether or not to extend the Bush Tax Cuts to the Middle Class. Steny Hoyer, the number two in the House Dem leadership, told Democrats at a Caucus meeting this morning that they would get to vote this year on just extending the Bush Tax Cuts for the Middle Class, a senior Dem aide tells me, signaling support for a confrontational move towards the GOP that liber...

Democrats to Hold Votes on Middle Class Tax Cuts
Friday, November 19, 2010 By Stephen Ohlemacher, Associated Press House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of Calif., speaks during a news Conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Nov. 17, 2010, after being re-elected as the Leader of the House Democrats. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh) Washington (AP) - After meeting with President Barack Obama Thursday, Democratic leaders in Congress said they plan to hold a series of politically charged votes to extend Middle-class Tax Cuts while letting Tax Cuts f...

Unemployment extension fails to pass in U.S. House
A bill to extend Unemployment Benefits through February 28, 2011, did not pass the U.S. House of Representatives Thursday afternoon, as the current authorization ends on November 30. The bill did get a Majority of votes, 258-154, but under a suspension of the rules that is generally used to pass non-controversial bills, the bill needed a two-thirds majority. The bill would have cost $12.5 billion; the last extension passed in July for six months after numerous procedural tactics by Republic...

Hoyer: House Will Hold Vote on Middle Class Tax Cuts Only
My inkling was that today’s vote on the Unemployment Insurance extension was something of a Dry Run, for two reasons. One, the House Leadership wanted to see how much support they could get for a UI extension. Two, they wanted to test-run an important bill under the Suspension calendar, which allows for no amendments or the motion to recommit. Because I suspect that’s how they’re planning on pulling this off. Steny Hoyer, the number two in the House Dem Leadership, told Democ...

Extend the Bush Tax Cuts Below $1 Million? I'm Intrigued...
[Guest post by Noam Scheiber:] The idea's been bouncing around for a while, but Politico suggests some Senate Dems are now seriously considering it, even if many of their colleagues aren't wild about it: Senate Democrats struggled Thursday to figure out what that next step would be. At a three-hour Caucus meeting, members stood up one-by-one to speak their mind, engaging in what one senator described as an animated debate over raising the income threshold to $1 million or keep it at $250,000.&l...;

Dems Will Vote to Extend Some Tax-Cuts
Greg Sargent reports: Steny Hoyer, the number two in the House Dem leadership, told Democrats at a Caucus meeting this morning that they would get to vote this year on just extending the Bush Tax Cuts for the Middle Class, a senior Dem aide tells me, signaling support for a confrontational move towards the GOP that Liberals have been pushing. Asked if Democrats would definitely get a chance to hold this vote, the senior aide responded: “Definitely.” Hoyer’s declaration comes ...

Tax Cut Chicken? Game On!
By Patrick O'Connor It’s official. Congressional Republicans and Democrats have launched their game of chicken over the future of the Bush Tax Cuts. House and Senate Democrats kicked things off Thursday by declaring that they’ll bring Legislation to the floor of the Lame-duck session to extend the current Tax Rates for families earning less than $250,000 a year, but not for wealthier Taxpayers. House Republican Leader and Speaker-in-Waiting John Boehner , in this week’s least surprising deve...

Nancy Pelosi to lead House Democrats, but path is unclear
House Democrats elected Rep. Nancy Pelosi as Minority Leader Wednesday, turning to the once-powerful Speaker to oversee a shrunken and demoralized Caucus. This Story At gathering, Republican governors look to rebrand their party Republicans may be less eager than Obama for Bipartisanship Who's in charge Nancy Pelosi to lead House Democrats, but path is unclear Election 2010: New faces coming to Washington View All Items in This Story View Only Top Items in This Story After two days of closed-...

Democrats plan vote on middle-class tax cuts
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Congressional Democrats said on Thursday they would vote to extend Bush-era Tax Cuts for the lower and Middle classes only, setting up a clash with Republicans only two weeks after Midterm Elections. The moves end days of hand-wringing by Democrats to find a common strategy before a December 31 deadline for expiration of Tax Cuts for nearly all Americans and a Republican takeover of the House of Representatives next year. A clash over taxes augurs badly for any chance that...

Hoyer: We'll Vote on Tax Cut Extensions For All But High Earners During Lame-Duck Session
cbsnews.com Democratic leadership aide confirmed to CBS News this afternoon that House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer told Democrats today that a vote will be held during the Lame-duck session to extend the Bush-era Tax Cuts for everyone except families making more than $250,000 . President Obama and many Democrats want to extend the Cuts for most Americans, but not those earning more than $250,000 per year. Republicans and some Democrats want the cuts, which expire at the end of the year, exten...

Are They Growing a Spine?
Maybe a little one: Steny Hoyer, the number two in the House Dem leadership, told Democrats at a Caucus meeting this morning that they would get to vote this year on just extending the Bush Tax Cuts for the Middle Class, a senior Dem aide tells me, signaling support for a confrontational move towards the GOP that Liberals have been pushing. Asked if Democrats would definitely get a chance to hold this vote, the senior aide responded: “Definitely.” Hoyer’s declaration comes as...

The Democrats' Tax Gambit
The Democrats’ Tax vote strategy for the Lame Duck is starting to come into focus. A top GOP aide in the House tells me that the Democrats may schedule a vote extending only the Middle-class Bush Tax under a suspension of the rules.  This would mean 40 minutes of debate with no amendments, and a two-thirds majority required for passage. The Democrats won’t get to two-thirds, but it would allow them to force the Republicans to vote against extending the Middle-class Cuts (though,...