McConnell Offers Bill to Keep Bush-Era Tax Rates

[WestVirginiaRebel]

NY Times:

WASHINGTON – The Senate Republican leader, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, proposed legislation on Monday to continue the Bush-era income tax cuts indefinitely, even for the wealthiest Americans, testing the willingness of Democrats to vote for a tax increase in a weak economy and making clear that the partisan fight over taxes will extend deep into the campaign season if not beyond. Mr. McConnell’s proposal came a day after the House Republican leader, John A. Boehner of Ohio, opened the door to a potential compromise, saying he would vote for President Obama’s plan to extend the tax cuts only for households earning less than $250,000 if he had no other choice.

In part, Mr. McConnell’s proposal illustrated the greater leverage that Republicans enjoy in the Senate, where they control 41 seats – enough to filibuster and block any bill. In other words, unlike Mr. Boehner who cannot stop House Democrats from forcing a vote on the president’s favored tax plan, Mr. McConnell made clear that he will have a say.

But Mr. McConnell’s position also served as something of a political counterweight to Mr. Boehner’s statement on Sunday, which suggested that Republicans wanted to avoid a brawl in which they would be cast as blocking tax cuts for the middle class to ensure that tax cuts continued for the wealthy.

In a forceful floor speech that could serve as a closing statement in his election-year pitch for returning Republicans to power, Mr. McConnell accused the White House and Congressional Democrats of using their one-party control of Washington in the last two years to run up federal spending and said they now want to raise taxes to spend more.

“Democrats spent the last two years putting government in charge of health care, the financial sector, car companies, insurance companies, student loans – you name it,” Mr. McConnell said in his speech, as the Senate resume work after a five-week recess. “Now,” he said, “they want the tax hike to pay for it all.”

President Obama spoke out again on Monday against an extension of the Bush tax rates on individuals’ taxable income over $200,000 and income over $250,000 for couples.
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Democrats may come to regret not being willing to make a deal on tax cuts...