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United States News Title: House passes extension on middle-class tax cuts only WASHINGTON — The House has passed a bill to extend middle-class tax cuts while letting those for the wealthy expire, even as talks continue on extending the cuts for everyone. The bill is a political maneuver to satisfy Democratic supporters who oppose extending tax cuts for the wealthy. Even if the bill passes the House, it has no chance in the Senate, where Democrats need Republican support to pass a tax bill. Sweeping tax cuts enacted under former President George W. Bush expire at the end of the year. A small bipartisan group of lawmakers and Obama administration officials continued negotiating Thursday on a deal that could extend all the tax cuts, at least temporarily. The House passed the Democratic bill by a vote of 234 to 188. GOP, Dems take sides House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said the House vote wouldn't undermine bipartisan negotiations on the tax cuts, "nor is it intended to embarrass or to put Republicans in a difficult place." However House Republican Leader John Boehner of Ohio called the vote, "a Washington stalling tactic with job-killing implications for employers and entrepreneurs gripped by uncertainty over the looming tax hikes." The U.S. Chamber of Commerce also took a strong stance against the House Democratic measure, saying it "fails to prevent a massive tax increase on small businesses." It also issued a letter signed by more than 1,300 businesses and trade associations calling on Congress to adopt a "long-term extension" of all expiring tax provisions by the end of the year. The White House appeared to signal it could be open to a year-end compromise that would extend all the Bush-era tax cuts temporarily. The Senate's top Republican, Mitch McConnell, said the only question that remained was how long current rates should be allowed to continue before they expire. He said all Republicans and some Democrats oppose any plan that would allow tax rates for the wealthy to rise. McConnell predicted the Senate would approve extending the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts for everyone. "The only thing we're discussing now is just how long" to extend them, McConnell said Wednesday evening. Officials said negotiations center on a one- to three-year extension of the current rates. Obama and Democratic leaders in Congress want to extend the Bush era tax cuts for individuals making less than $200,000 and married couples making less than $250,000. Republicans and some rank-and-file Democrats want to extend the tax cuts for everyone. Making tax cuts permanent for middle- and lower-income taxpayers would add a little more than $3 trillion to the national debt over the next decade. Making them permanent for high earners would require an additional $700 billion in federal borrowing, according to congressional estimates. White House spokesman Robert Gibbs reiterated that President Barack Obama's main goal is to prevent a middle-class tax increase. 'Some sensible common ground' Obama's "other line in the sand" is that he won't support a permanent extension of tax cuts for the wealthy, Gibbs said on ABC's "Good Morning America." Obama has specifically voiced his objection to a permanent extension "to the wealthiest Americans." "Having said that, we agreed that there must be some sensible common ground," Obama said. That leaves open the possibility of a temporary extension of all the tax cuts. Later, Gibbs declined to say whether Obama would support extending all the tax cuts for up to three years, which would push the issue beyond the next presidential election, in 2012. Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., said: "At the end of the day, I've been saying for six months, we'll end up with a minimum of two years of tax policy." Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and White House Budget Director Jacob Lew held two closed-door meetings Wednesday with a group of four lawmakers from both parties to negotiate a deal on tax cuts. "We are still talking in somewhat general terms although we've asked the staff of the various committees to make sure that we have detailed information on certain issues," Rep. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., said after the evening session. Van Hollen said the talks have expanded to include other issues, including a package of business and individual tax cuts that expired at the end of 2009. The business tax cuts, including a popular research and development tax credit, have wide support in Congress, but lawmakers have been unable to agree on spending cuts or other tax increases to pay for them. "We need to figure out where there's agreement between the House and the Senate on those packages, what would be in something if we decided to move forward," Van Hollen said. More talks are scheduled for Thursday. advertisement | ad info Obama said Wednesday he was confident Democrats and Republicans will be able to resolve their differences over tax cuts, though he said there would be some "lingering politics" that have to be dealt with. Forty-two Senate Republicans signed a letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., saying they intend to block action on all Democratic-backed legislation until the Senate votes on extending the Bush tax cuts, as well as a budget bill needed to keep funding the government into next year. The strategy would further doom already dismal prospects for Democratic attempts to end the Pentagon's practice of discharging openly gay members of the military service and give legal status to young illegal immigrants who join the military or attend college. Republicans have little incentive to make major concessions in December, considering their power on Capitol Hill will greatly increase in January. Democrats still control both chambers until the end of the year, but they need Republican votes in the Senate to pass a tax bill. "Congress should vote immediately to cut spending and stop all the tax hikes," Boehner said. "If the lame-duck Congress is unwilling to cut spending and permanently stop all the tax hikes, the new House majority will act in January."
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If the Senate passes this bill, 90% of Americans will keep their tax cuts. If the GOP obstructs this bill in the Senate, 100% of Americans will see their taxes increase on January 1. Pretty stark choice.
This is the one area where the Europeans do a better job than the U.S. You hold an election in Europe and the very next day the new people are in charge. Here, you have to wait more than two months for the new people to take charge. In the interim, the old people (who may have been overwhelming rejected by the voters) get to hang around and cause a whole bunch of trouble.
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