Tax and Appropriations

Wanted to be sure you saw this Politico article today highlighting Republican division over extending middle class tax cuts. One would think that they had learned their lesson after walking away from 160 million Americans in December, but apparently not. With less than a month to take action, it looks like Republicans are willing to put middle class tax cuts at risk once again:

There’s less than a month to go until middle class tax cuts expire, and you’d think Republicans would be feeling the heat to get something done. But what did they discuss at today’s conference meeting?

“‘It is very, very difficult for anybody to try to comply with the confusing regulations that are coming out of this Environmental Protection Agency,’ said Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.). ‘To me, this is an economy-wide issue.’”

With millions of Americans still out of work and American families facing a tax increase if the payroll tax cut is not extended this month, it appears Republican conferees are focused on two controversial details: GED’s and drug testing.

As Politico reports, conferees on the Payroll bill met for the second time today, with precious few days left to reach a compromise and the GOP firmly dug in on unreasonable policy provisions:

• The Treasury Department working paper they’ve referenced compares the first four years of tax changes.

From the Democratic Whip Press Shop:

Today, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke warned against undermining our economic recovery by drastically cutting spending too quickly. Democrats agree with Republicans that we must reduce spending but we also have to ensure that spending cuts don’t harm the economy and impede job creation.

From the Democratic Whip Press Shop:

We hope House Republicans were paying attention to the ethanol vote in the Senate today, as 73 Senators—including 33 Republicans—voted to end these tax breaks.

That’s 33 Republican Senators who finally agreed that the tax code is not off limits when looking to restore fiscal discipline.