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BRING IT ON

Pelosi Says She'll Force a Vote on Tax Cuts

She's trying to break the fiscal cliff 'stalemate'

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by Mary Noble

Senior Editor t +

Image: AP

Nancy Pelosi is promising - or threatening - to force a House vote on whether to extend the Bush tax cuts for middle-income families.

The Senate has already passed a bill that extends the cuts for incomes under $250,000, which would end the uncertainty over the fiscal cliff. Pelosi's maneuver - a Discharge Petition - would force a House vote on the Senate's bill, and would require only 218 signatures to bring about. That's 25 over the 193 Democratic votes in the House, so Pelosi would need to peel off 25 Republican congressmen to back up her move.

"We believe that not [bringing the Senate bill to the House floor] would be holding middle income tax cuts hostage to tax cuts for the rich," Pelosi said. "Tax cuts for the rich which do not create jobs, just increase the deficit, heaping mountains of debt onto future generations."

Via the Huffington Post.
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55 Comments (view in Forum)

  • PNWest
    !
    Look at all this name calling from the right. The bottom line on what Pelosi wants to do is force the congress to vote yes or no on a permanent tax cut for ALL Americans. This tax cut is not just for the lowest 98% of earners but or everybody. It goes to show you the lengths that the GOP will go to protect the interests of the extremely wealthy. They are willing to hurt everyone to stand up for the rich.
  • SavageMazx
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    @PNWest while I agree with this, I also dont like the idea that one class needs to support te rest. if they wealthy should have to pay the 39%, everyone should have to.
  • PNWest
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    @SavageMazx If you want a same rate tax solution then tax people on their net worth - not their income. Then you'd see the top 400 families paying something like 60% of total taxes and the lower 50% paying close to nothing.

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  • texas_cutie75
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    That's troublesome, because according to the US census there are 198,700,000 folks living in the U.S.(just checked)

    Will someone please remove her and send her back to where she came from, please!!
  • FollowTheMoney
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    @texas_cutie75 Pelosi is an excellent example of why we need Term Limits. Her constituents keep re-electing her while the rest of us are stuck with her.

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  • Buckfan4life2
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    And the democrats didn't win it either. It was a gift from people who recieves Obamas gifts and votes that came from people that are not even American citizens so don't act like Obama was elected by a majority of REAL American patriots. Its rather sickining of whats going on in this country today and to elect a man that has been raised from the day he was born to hate America and you people welcomed this man with open arms. All I can say is one day you people will see how very wrong you were but by then they will be absolutely nothing you will be able to do about it.
  • Zazziness
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    @Buckfan4life2 How dare you. How dare you say that people are not "real Americans" just because they disagree with your politics. Go wash your mouth out with soap and think about what you said wrong.
  • CanisCanemEdit
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    .“Unemployment benefits are creating jobs faster than practically any other program”

    Imagine how many jobs we could create if everyone quit their jobs!

    ..........wait-a-minute....... ...

    I never put much stock in anything Pelosi says.
  • Litdes
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    I wish there would be an outbreak of common sense, but fear there will not be. The Republicans spoke of a mandate from the people following the 2010 midterm election, but they delivered nothing but obstructionism. Apparently, they didn't hear the voice of the American people saying enough is enough in 2012. One would think the daily and weekly approval polls with congress at abysmal levels would speak loud enough for them to hear clearly.
  • freebirdie
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    Iitdes, there is the problem 49% of Americans believe that allowing the president, pelosi and reid have there way is dangerous. The Republicans have agreed to raise tax on the rich in return for spending cuts in place to chip away at the defecit. I am not an scholared economist but do know how to set up a budget. When you have a credit card maxed out, you don't call the credit card agency and ask for a higher spending limit...you look at areas within your budget that you can cut to pay toward money you have already borrowed and spent. Common sense....If this president was truly wanting to see the country work on our atrocious debt, he would step up to the plate and look at areas that could afford to be cut, not ask for executive priviledge to raise the debt ceiling with no accountability to congress and the American people.
  • Litdes
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    @freebirdie Funny, I haven't heard a single Republican willing to make that concession. As for the maxed out credit card argument, do you know what happens when you stop paying the bill? That's basically where the republicans are pushing us. one doesn't need to be an economist to see what happens if we solely go the way of spending cuts. Ask the Greeks how austerity is working out for them. the reality is that this is a complicated problem, and one that even if we come to an accord, will likely not be fully solved in my lifetime. Right now, watching the petty partisan bickering over minutiae is mind boggling. Truly our politicians are fiddling as the country burns.
  • stepped_in_it
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    Does anyone think that Republicans will side with Democrats OR Democrats will side with Republicans. It's like two siblings fighting over a dog (of which they squeezed to death during the "fight"). It's time the "fiscal" cliff became a PHYSICAL cliff for all politicians!
  • Russell797
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    This is a win-win for Pelosi. She has put them between a rock and a hard place. The Republicans know that the house they control will not pass the Senate bill and this vote would only be symbolic. It makes the Republicans look bad if they fail to agree to the vote and it makes them look bad when and if they vote down the Senate bill.
  • Rocker
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    The real plan is that the Bush tax cuts were never to be re-instated. The gridlock thing is a really nifty topic to get and keep the sides divided. That added tax revenue is needed to work on the deficit. But the gridlock letting the tax kick back in is the plan where neither side has bragging rights for a tax increase, the rich keep their loopholes, and everybody pays. It's a nifty approach when you think about it. Politicians are old pros at 'pulling the wool'.
  • Rocker
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    @woodtick57 - they have the bulk of the money in the US, seems about right to me. Would a flat rate for everybody be better? 22%??
  • woodtick57
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    @Rocker
    no. most couldn't pay it and it would be even more progressive.

    We have a very progressive tax system for a reason, it provides a stable and viable tax base.(among some socialreasons for it...)

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  • dances-weebles
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    people who earn 250 thousand dollars a year don't need tax cuts. they need to pay a lot more. the ones who need it are those who earn under $60,000 a year. they shouldn't be paying taxes at all. that's why o vote no on this crap.
  • dances-weebles
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    i think that she should force a vote on not creating trite little cliche terms and then using them to death. 'fiscal cliff, 'smoking gun', and 'slippery slope' should have never been said the first time, and certainly not reiterated.
  • DARSB
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    While I don't expect her gambit to succeed I will be interested to see how close she'll get. I've long thought John Boehner is the weakest Speaker in my lifetime. A direct challenge from the Minority Leader will tell a lot about his relative strength.
  • harold
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    If Republicans are smart, they'll cut a deal now. If they get blamed for another recession, and they will, then Democrats' best idea is to wait until after the 2014 elections.
    On a side note, a Democrat controlled government scares me about as much as a Republican controlled government.
    Please encourage the Republican party to send the more insane of the conservative wing out to sea on an ice floe.
  • harold
    !
    Second verse...
    Any deal must reduce the DEBT, not just the deficit.
    No matter how much blather comes out of this, and there will be a lot, if it isn't a bipartisan plan to reduce the debt over 15 years, then it will be the wrong agreement.
    Don't hesitate to write every elected official who might listen and tell them that.
    Also be wary of all the corrupting influences that show up at a time like this.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch...
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