WASHINGTON – Unable to secure GOP backing before lawmakers break to campaign, the White House and Democratic leaders in Congress said Sunday they would find a way to extend middle-class tax cuts after the November elections.
“One way or the other, we’re going to get it done. And I believe the pressure is going to build among the American people” said David Axelrod, President Obama’s top political aide.
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House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., had suggested that a vote could be held this week before lawmakers leave town for the elections. But her deputy, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer of Maryland, said Sunday that holding a vote wouldn’t matter because the legislation is still languishing in the Senate under GOP objections.
Both parties are using the delay in a vote on the George W. Bush-era cuts at a time of record deficits as political ammunition this election season.
Democratic leaders have said they want to freeze tax rates for individuals making up to $200,000 and for families earning up to $250,000. Republicans, as well as some more conservative Democrats, want to extend all of Bush’s income tax cuts permanently, even for the wealthiest of Americans.
Democrats think the climate for compromise will improve after the election. They will still need at least one Republican vote in the Senate to pass a bill.
“We are for making sure that the middle-class Americans do not get a tax increase. And we’re going to make sure that happens,” Hoyer said.
Republicans say they want a chance to debate extending the tax cuts beyond the middle class or else they will block the Democratic proposal.
“If she’s not willing to have a fair and open debate, she should not count on our votes,” House GOP Leader John Boehner said of Pelosi.
Axelrod said that kind of strong-arm tactic will hurt Republicans in this fall’s election.
“They’re going to have to explain to their constituents why they’re holding up tax cuts for the middle class,” Axelrod said. “And I think it’s an untenable position to say, ‘We’re going to allow your taxes to go up on Jan. 1 unless the president agrees to give tax cuts to millionaires and billionaires.’ “
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