No deal on taxes...yet
December 6, 2010
The U.S. Senate rejected two tax-cut extension proposals in procedural votes as talks continued that lawmakers say likely will result in renewal of lower rates for all taxpayers.

The votes followed passage Dec. 2 in the House of a measure that would extend tax cuts only on the first $200,000 of individual income and $250,000 for a married couple, setting the stage for the emergence of compromise legislation.

Senator Robert Corker, a Tennessee Republican, congressional and administration negotiators likely will reach an agreement by the end of the week on tax-cut extensions.

"There'll be a deal by the end of next week," Corker said yesterday. "It'll be existing policy, in my opinion, and maybe some other attachments."

In the voting, largely along party lines, the Senate rejected, 53-36, a measure to extend Bush-era tax policies set in 2001 and 2003 on the first $200,000 of an individual's income and $250,000 for a married couple. A second proposal to set that threshold at $1 million also failed, 53-37. The votes fell short of the 60 necessary to clear procedural hurdles and pass.

Four Senate Democrats and independent Joe Lieberman of Connecticut joined all present Republicans in opposing the first measure setting the tax-cut threshold at $250,000. They included Russ Feingold of Wisconsin, Joe Manchin of West Virginia, Jim Webb of Virginia, and Ben Nelson of Nebraska.

Lieberman and Feingold also voted with three other Democrats in opposing the $1 million threshold. They included Tom Harkin of Iowa, Richard Durbin of Illinois, and Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia.

Lawmakers and administration officials have said a compromise likely would extend lower tax rates on income and capital gains and dividends for all Americans, including high- income taxpayers, for two or three years.

Republicans oppose extending only the middle-income tax cuts, saying selective extensions would hurt job creation and economic growth.
President Barack Obama told reporters in Washington yesterday that he's "very disappointed" the Senate failed to end an "impasse" over the expiring tax cuts.

"We need to redouble our efforts to resolve this," he said. Obama said he wants the issue resolved "in the next few days." He also said Congress must pass an extension of jobless benefits.

The votes last week gave Senate Democrats an opportunity to express displeasure with Obama and Republicans who've railed against budget deficits for allowing the Bush-era tax cuts to continue for those with the highest incomes.

During the floor debate, Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada compared Republicans with the character Lucy in the "Peanuts" comic strip gag where she repeatedly tricks Charlie Brown by inviting him to kick a football, only to yank the ball away at the last second.

"It's obvious by now that our Republican friends have drawn their political strategy from this cartoon," Reid said. "We've all heard Republicans weep for the deficit. They've pulled away the football and said rather than reduce the deficit, we'd really rather give an unnecessary, unwanted, unaffordable handout to the richest of the rich."

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Posted by jc at 4:27 AM