Will the GOP Set Middle Class Taxes Free?
In an effort to avoid being blamed for holding middle class tax cuts hostage, Senate Republicans today caved and allowed the rarest of rarities: an actual up-or-down, majority vote on a bill. They gambled that Democrats didn’t have the votes to pass their plan — and they lost.
The Republican plan, which gives the wealthiest 2 percent another handout they don’t need and we cannot afford while raising taxes on more than 25 MILLION middle and working class families, failed to attract even 50 votes. It went down 45 votes to 54, with even Republican Sens. Scott Brown (MA) and Susan Collins (ME) voting no.
By contrast, the Democratic plan, which preserves and even enhances tax cuts for 98 percent of Americans, passed on a vote of 51 to 48. Zero Republicans voted to support this plan, while all but two are now on the record in favor of billions of dollars in tax hikes on the middle class.
Now that the Senate has acted, it couldn’t be clearer who is to blame if middle class taxes go up in January: Republicans — and Republicans alone. House Republicans are now literally the only thing standing in the way of tax cuts for 98 percent of Americans.
IN ONE SENTENCE: It’s time for House Republicans to stop holding middle class tax cuts hostage and immediately pass a bill extending them — and them alone.
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