President Obama and congressional Democrats failed to agree on a strategy Thursday for extending an array of expiring tax breaks, with the party badly divided over whether to temporarily extend the cuts for all taxpayers or stick with their pledge to protect only the middle class.
During a meeting at the White House, Democrats resolved to stage a vote on the plan that they have backed for months, which formed a key plank in Obama’s presidential campaign platform: Extend the tax breaks for families earning less than $250,000 a year while letting tax rates rise for wealthier taxpayers.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) both said they would put such a plan to a vote in their respective chambers immediately after the Thanksgiving break. But Democrats acknowledged that such a bill is unlikely to pass the Senate, where Republicans – and at least half a dozen Democrats – are arguing that it makes no sense to raise anyone’s taxes when the economy is so weak.
Full Story: Obama, Democrats fail to agree on plan for expiring tax cuts
