Pelosi rejects extending Bush-era tax cuts

Pelosi rejects extending Bush-era tax cuts

House speaker says high-end cuts have boosted deficit

Robert Schroeder
MarketWatch
July 22, 2010

WASHINGTON -- Democratic leaders won't back an extension of tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Thursday, even as two more Senate Democrats were calling for extending tax cuts for all earners.

Asked at her weekly news conference if Democratic leaders are willing to consider extending the cuts, Pelosi replied: "No. Our position has been that we support middle-income tax cuts."

Tax breaks enacted in 2001 and 2003, during George W. Bush's presidency, are set to expire at the end of this year. Among the changes: the top individual tax rate would rise to 39.6% from 35%, and the tax rate on long-term capital gains for middle- and upper-income people would rise to 20% from 15%. Read more about Bush-era tax cuts from the Tax Foundation.

Thursday morning, The Wall Street Journal reported that Democratic Sen. Kent Conrad said Congress shouldn't allow taxes on the wealthy to rise until the economy is on a sounder footing. Meanwhile, Sen. Ben Nelson, a Nebraska Democrat, also said through a spokesman that he supports extending all the expiring tax cuts for now. Nelson also wants to offset the impact on federal deficits as much as possible.

In rejecting an extension of the cuts, Pelosi said they've increased the deficit "enormously." They didn't create jobs in the eight years of the Bush administration, she added.

At least half a dozen House Democrats have also come out publicly in favor of postponing tax increases for higher earners, the Journal noted.

Republicans favor extending the breaks, but President Barack Obama and most Democrats want to extend only those breaks benefitting those who make $250,000 or less.

This woman is so clueless. Her own party is starting to slowly agree with the GOP that the cuts need to be extended. Oh well. If she holds firm, it guarantees a loss for her speaker's mallet.

She committing political suicide here. Even Obama has backtracked on his campaign promise to repeal these tax cuts. So she's fighting an up-hill battle against him & the rest of her party, as well as many others.

When members of her own party are calling for it, you know it's serious. At this point, even passing an extension won't save her job this fall. Yeah, she'll still be a representative but she won't be the House Speaker anymore.

I don't like Pelosi or Reid, never really have. IMO, they're more responsible of driving the Democrats to where they are now than Obama or any other high ranking Dems.

BubbleBliss wrote:
I don't like Pelosi or Reid, never really have. IMO, they're more responsible of driving the Democrats to where they are now than Obama or any other high ranking Dems.

That i can agree with. So, when i tell you that i hope the GOP grabs a hold of one of the two Houses here, that's not a bad thing for the country. I'm not fond of the GOP in many ways but they happen to be the 'other' party. If they hold the House after the election, it actually might save Obama's poll numbers. Or.... let's say that the GOP gets both Houses this fall (which won't happen but let's say they do), that's still a boon for Obama whether he knows it or not. Bush had a Dem controlled congress during his last two years. Clinton had a GOP congress for 6 of his 8. What i'm trying to covey is that it will make Obama and the GOP compromise instead of one party giving the other the shaft.

No matter the outcome of the upcoming election, you're already seeing many of the Democrats inching more and more towards the center because they know that they have no chance of winning if they don't.