Tax Bill Likely To Pass House
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UPDATE: 11:59 p.m. EST:
By a wide margin, the House voted to pass the controversial tax deal with the final tally due shortly after midnight. More than 105 Democrats voted against the measure, representing about half the Democratic caucus. The measure now moves back to the Senate for final ratification.
A landmark tax bill that has been stuck in the House will likely pass, some reports show.
House leaders will likely triumph over the protestations of liberal lawmakers as they tally up the votes for the largest tax bill in nearly a decade.
The deal, which was struck by President Obama and Republican Congressmen, would extend the Bush tax cuts for two more years. A campaign by House Democrats to curb tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans will likely fail, and the bill will most likely go to the President.
The Washington Post reports:
"I'm going to vote against the bill, but I believe it will pass," Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) said late in the day, as House leaders struggled to quash an uprising by rank-and-file liberal lawmakers. If the bill does not pass, taxes for all Americans would increase next year.
Liberals oppose the bill because they fear the lower tax rates would remain permanent, a luxury that some say we can't afford in a recession.
The measure would add to the deficit, angering budget hawks in both parties. Still, President Obama has urged unhappy Democrats and Republicans to pass the measure, saying it is a compromise aimed at jump-starting the economy.
"It's either pay the ransom now or pay the ransom later," said Rep. Brad Sherman, D-Calif., lamenting the impact on the deficit. "We're going to have to swallow hard."
If the tax measure does become law, tax rates for the wealthy would be at the lowest rates since 1931, except for a brief 4-year period. That would make this "a great time to be rich," Businessweek reports.
