While Democratic leaders ponder whether to vote on extending the Bush-era tax cuts before the November midterm elections, California Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein said Tuesday that she thinks it would be a terrible idea.
“I don’t know who takes a tax vote in their right mind just before an election,” Feinstein told The Daily Caller. “But that’s just me.”
The tax cuts that former President George W. Bush put into place in 2001 and 2003 will expire by the end of the year unless Congress votes to extend them. Most Democrats support allowing the tax cuts that apply to families making more than $250,000 expire but want to extend the cuts for those who earn less than that. Senate Republican leaders have said they will push for extending the cuts to all income brackets.
When asked when she thought Democratic Senate leadership would call for a vote, Feinstein said she did not know but guessed it would occur during the lame-duck session after the midterms.
“We have toward the end of the year to do it so I would assume it’s after the election,” she said.
Democrats have not set a firm timetable for voting on the tax cut extensions, but Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin said Monday that Democrats have made it a “goal” to get it done before November.