House Dems Pass Only Middle Class Tax Cut Bill

House Dems Block GOP Input, Move Tax Cut Bill
In what may very well be her final curtain call as House Speaker, Rep. Nancy Pelosi pulled one of the most underhanded stunts of her entire career on Thursday. In spite of the amicable ongoing negotiations between President Barack Obama and Republican leadership, Pelosi forced through a vote on the Bush Tax Cuts while suspending a rule that would have allowed Republicans to offer amendments. The rule change essentially prevented Republicans from proposing changes to the Democrats' plan to extend...

Middle-Class Tax Cuts Pass the House
Via TPM:Using a wily procedural maneuver to tie Republican hands, House Democrats managed to pass, by a vote of 234-188, Legislation that will allow the Bush Tax Cuts benefiting only the wealthiest Americans to expire. Democrats were not united on the issue. Twenty voted with Republicans to kill the tax cut bill, as they hold out for extending additional cuts to wealthy Americans -- though 3 Republicans, including Reps. Ron Paul (TX) and Walter Jones (NC) voted for the tax cut extensions. Howev...

Tax Cut Defeat is Progress, Could Lead to START Ratification
All of the jousting, jostling, and jockeying for position on the Bush-era Tax Cuts, set to expire by year's end, has reached a fevered pitch in the Senate, with one Democratic senator even likening the ongoing struggle with Republicans to "negotiating with Terrorists." All of this will reach a climax on Saturday, when members will vote on two Democratic proposals that would essentially allow Bush-era tax cuts to expire for wealthier Americans. One senior Senate Democratic leadership aide told Fo...

House Democrats pass Middle-class tax cuts while Republicans cry fowl
I wrote in my last article how Republicans in Congress were making a mistake in favoring the extension of the Bush-era Tax Cuts for the 2 percent of Americans who make over $200,000 ($250,000 for families) instead of extending Unemployment Benefits. Now that Republicans have succeeded in blocking that extension, leaving 2 million Americans this Holiday Season without those benefits by the end of the year, they are free to again focus on their highest priority: giving more money to the wealthy. A...

GOP Rolls Out Strategy of Confrontation
At LAT, "GOP Resolve Dominates the Agenda in Congress": Republicans rolled out a confrontational, no-compromise strategy this week that may carry long-term risks, but has put them in position to dominate the lame-duck session of Congress and marginalize President Obama's agenda. Among congressional Republicans, confidence levels are so high that they are barreling over what might be considered standard political traps. As they fight to preserve Tax Cuts for the wealthiest Taxpayers, for instan...

What's the Point of Pelosi's 'Wily' Middle-Class Tax Cuts? (The Atlantic Wire)
WASHINGTON, DC – House Democrats passed Legislation extending the Bush Tax Cuts only for the Middle Class, allowing those for families making more than $250,000 to expire, using "a wily procedural maneuver to tie Republican hands," Talking Points Memo's Brian Beutler reports. But now a deal on the cuts has died in the Senate, and the future of Democrats' favored tax plan looks grim. Majority Leader Harry Reid had forged a "tentative agreement" to hold four votes in the Senate on Democrat...

GOP howls after House extends tax cuts for middle class only
WASHINGTON — The House of Representatives voted Thursday 234-188 for a Tax Cut for the Middle Class and the poor — but not the very rich — a vote meant mostly as a political statement to give Democrats talking points back home. The plan, which would extend George W. Bush-era tax cuts for individuals earning less than $200,000 annually and couples making less than $250,000, is going nowhere in the Senate. A temporary extension of all the cuts for every income class is consider...

House Dems Pass Tax Break for Under 250K
The Bush Tax Cuts passed in 2002 almost 8 years ago has giving those high earning Billionaires and Millionaires a huge Tax Break for the wealthiest Americans who represent only 2.1 percent of all Taxpayers but who pay less than the rest of the 97.9 percent of the American tax base. In essence the rich who expect a continuation of the tax breaks and gifts from ex-President George Bush -still have the audacity of expecting them during a Democratic President at the helm. The Republicans may have wo...

Middle class tax cut proposal now moves on to the Senate
Yesterday the Democrats passed a Tax Cut for the Middle Class in the House, but a larger obstacle remains in the Senate.  The overwhelming majority of Republicans in the House voted against the measure, as they have promised to only vote for a Tax Cut extension which includes higher incomes.  Future Speaker John Boehner called the Democrats’ move “chicken crap” and accused them of playing politics.  For their part, the Democrats are planning on making one last di...

House Democrats Pass Middle-Class Tax Cut (The Atlantic Wire)
WASHINGTON, DC – Today, the House passed the much-debated extension of the Bush-era Tax Cuts for the middle-class. The measure passed by 234 votes to 188 with just three Republicans (Ron Paul, Walter Jones and John Duncan) voting in favor. Most Republicans voted against the measure because it did not extend to families earning $250,000 or more. The New York Times says the bill has "no chance of passage in the Senate." So what's the point? Here's the reaction from the left and right: Brav...

Online Ads Hit Boehner, Cantor on Tax Cuts
While the White House seeks a Compromise with Republicans on the Bush Tax Cuts, and while House Democrats have managed to pass a bill to extend the sub-$250,000 Bush-instituted rates, the liberal Progressive Change Campaign Committee is running these online ads in the home districts of incoming Speaker John Boehner and incoming House Majority Leader Eric Cantor: ...

Welcome to Gridlock: Pols Find Little Common Ground on Jobless, Tax Bills
President Obama today urged members of Congress to extend benefits for the unemployed, which expired Wednesday for about 2 million Americans, and expressed hope that lawmakers will come together on Tax Cuts even though Republicans and Democrats continue to squabble over both issues. More Video House Democrats today passed a bill to extend Tax Cuts for individuals who make $200,000 a year or less and couples who make up to $250,000. But the bill is unlikely to pass the Senate. The president...

Schumer: G.O.P. 'Is Hiding Behind the Curtain of Protecting the Millionaires.' [VIDEO]
Chuck Schumer has been railing against Republicans in recent days for not only refusing to accept a Tax Cut for the Middle Class unless one is included for the wealthy, but refusing to accept a Tax Cut for people making under $1 million unless Millionaires get one as well. Republicans, for their part, have denounced Schumer's plan as a gambit, and say they prefer to let the negotiations with the White House play out. Schumer has been using the Republicans intransigence as a way of showing that...

GOP resolve dominates the agenda in Congress
Reporting from Washington — Republicans rolled out a confrontational, no-compromise strategy this week that may carry long-term risks, but has put them in position to dominate the lame-duck session of Congress and marginalize President Obama's agenda. Among congressional Republicans, confidence levels are so high that they are barreling over what might be considered standard political traps. As they fight to preserve Tax Cuts for the wealthiest Taxpayers, for instance, they are prepared...

Republicans Seize on Unemployment Rate Hike
Friday, December 03, 2010 By Stephen Ohlemacher, Associated Press Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., left and Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., take part in a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington Friday, Dec. 3, 2010, to discuss proposals to continue the Bush era Tax Cuts. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon) Washington (AP) - With Unemployment rising, incoming House Speaker John Boehner vowed Friday that Republicans will show the way toward extending tax cuts in 2011 if the outgoing Democrats fail to d...

White House: Unemployed need middle class tax cut
WASHINGTON, DC, Dec. 3 -- With news that the nation's jobless rate reached the highest level since April, the White House tried to put a positive spin on a very bad number and used it to argue for action on extending Tax Cuts for the Middle Class and Unemployment Insurance to millions. The Unemployment Rate climbed to 9.8% in November, with The Economy adding a lower-than-expected 39,000 jobs. November marked the 19th straight month with an Unemployment Rate above 9%. Job Cuts hit sectors from ...

Kline, Paulsen, Peterson vote against middle-class tax cuts
Democrat Collin Peterson joined Republican Reps. John Kline, Erik Paulsen and Michele Bachmann in voting against an extension of the Bush Tax Cuts for those making less than $250,000. The middle-class tax relief measure passed the U.S. House on Thursday by a vote of 234 to 188. Although Bachmann didn’t vote, she had plenty to say about the bill. “The proposal by House Democrat leaders to only extend Tax Cuts for the Middle Class is not sufficient for our nation’s economy and w...

House Democrats approve middle-class tax cut
House DemocratS APPROVE MIDDLE-CLASS Tax Cut.... It took some awkward maneuvering, but House Democrats voted today to approve the tax-cut plan they've wanted all along. The House on Thursday passed a permanent extension of the George W. Bush-era tax cuts for the Middle Class. Democratic leaders are pointing to the vote as an example of their party's efforts to help working Americans before Republicans take control of the chamber in January. The bill, which would extend the 2001 and 2003 tax c...

House Democrats approve middle-class tax cut
House DemocratS APPROVE MIDDLE-CLASS Tax Cut.... It took some awkward maneuvering, but House Democrats voted today to approve the tax-cut plan they've wanted all along. The House on Thursday passed a permanent extension of the George W. Bush-era tax cuts for the Middle Class. Democratic leaders are pointing to the vote as an example of their party's efforts to help working Americans before Republicans take control of the chamber in January. The bill, which would extend the 2001 and 2003 tax c...

Boehner says GOP to lead on extending tax cuts
Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., left and Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., take... Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., left, talks with Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich.,... Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., right, accompanied by, from left, Sen. Dianne... WASHINGTON (AP) - With Unemployment rising, incoming House Speaker John Boehner vowed Friday that Republicans will show the way toward extending Tax Cuts in 2011 if the outgoing Democrats fail to do it sooner. Boehner, R-Ohio, made his comment as partisan wrangli...

Bush tax giveaways will be cut to the chase in closed session
Baseball hall of famer Yogi Berra said it best: “It’s déjà vu all over again.” His Trademark malapropism aptly describes the return to wrangling over extending Bush-ear Tax Cuts. With less than a month before expiration, class warfare will be acted out for the media. But behind closed doors, expect a Compromise to be reached that will provide cover for both parties. In light of saber rattling by bobble heads resembling elephants and donkeys, neither side wishes to app...

Dem Senator: Negotiating with Republicans "Almost" like Negotiating with "Terrorists"
ABC News' Jonathan Karl reports: Did Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ) just compare Republicans to Terrorists? Well, not really. But he did compare negotiating with Republicans to negotiating with terrorists. At a Press Conference with fellow Democrats, Menendez lashed out at Republicans for opposing Democratic efforts to extend the Bush Tax Cuts for the Middle Class while allowing the Tax Cuts for the wealthy to expire. He accused the Republicans of holding Middle Class Tax Cuts “hostage” t...

In tax showdown, myths spread. A debunker's guide
NEW YORK — As debate rages on extending Tax Cuts set to expire at the end of the year, politicians are making misleading statements about who might be hurt or helped. Before the Midterm Elections, President Barack Obama insisted that lower income-tax rates should be permanently extended only to those he called the "Middle Class." People in the top two tax brackets would face higher rates. Now, with Republicans triumphant, the White House is trying to hash out a Compromise so rates don&rsqu...;

The Plum Line: In defense of the White House on Bush tax cuts
With everybody beating up on Obama's handling of the Bush Tax Cuts fight, it's only fair to note one crucial thing in the White House's defense: It isn't Obama's fault that Congressional Democrats punted on holding a vote on just the Middle Class Tax Cuts before the election. Indeed, the White House appears to have wanted just the opposite. As many commentators have noted already, the failure to do that vote left Dems with precious little leverage in the current lame-duck showdown over the ta...

House Dems Pass Tax Break for Under 250K
The Bush Tax Cuts passed in 2002 almost 8 years ago has giving those high earning Billionaires and Millionaires a huge Tax Break for the wealthiest Americans who represent only 2.1 percent of all Taxpayers but who pay less than the rest of the 97.9 percent of the American tax base. In essence the rich who expect a continuation of the tax breaks and gifts from ex-President George Bush -still have the audacity of expecting them during a Democratic President at the helm. The Republicans may have wo...