SENATE PASSES TAX RELIEF BILL, 81-19; Legislation Goes to the House

Tax Deal Possibly Endangered by Error in Legislation


Published December 15, 2010, FoxNews.com

President Obama on Wednesday urged lawmakers to reach a compromise on tax extenders but a glitch in the bill caused some senators to scramble for a correction without endangering its outcome.


Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., came to the Senate floor Wednesday to announce a "mistake" in the legislation. She said a program to extend low income housing tax credits for people who lost homes during Hurricanes Katrina and Rita was left out of the bill even though it was a deal that all sides approved.

Landrieu said the money is needed for two more years to complete the projects and its inclusion was blessed by the White House and the entire Louisiana delegation of nine lawmakers, two Democrats and seven Republicans. Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., followed to say that she was right.

But the addition could open up a can of worms because Republicans have said they would not accept any changes to the deal with President Obama that House Democrats have already indicated they want to rip up.

The tax deal package would extend current income tax rates for another two years and add hundreds of billions in additional spending through sweeteners and a 13-month extension in jobless benefits. The deal was approved by Republicans and Obama but faces stiff opposition among House Democrats who say Americans should have to pay larger percentages of taxes on bequeathed estates than is negotiated in the deal.

As he prepared to enter a meeting with CEOs from 20 of the country's largest companies, Obama urged Congress to pass the tax legislation.

"I know there are different aspects of this plan to which members of Congress on both sides of the aisle object. That's the nature of compromise. But we worked hard to negotiate an agreement that's a win for middle-class families and a win for our economy, and we can't afford to let it fall victim to either delay or defeat," he said.

But as House Democrats fume over extended benefits to the wealthy, Landrieu's announcement could offer them a reason to refuse to accept the measure, which passed a Senate test vote 83-15 and was expected to win an even greater margin on Wednesday after dispensing with three amendments unlikely to pass.

An amendment from Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., to pay for the costs of extending unemployment insurance payments by reducing unnecessary and duplicative spending failed in a 47-52 vote;

Another amendment from Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., to permanently extend the Bush-era rates, permanently repeal the estate tax, and to permanently provide alternative minimum tax relief failed in a 37-63 vote;

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., also has an amendment to "provide an extension of 2010 tax cuts only for the bottom 98 percent of taxpayers, to reform the estate tax, to extend "the making work pay credit in lieu of a payroll tax holiday, to provide relief for senior citizens, and to provide for improvements in infrastructure, energy and water."

Once the legislation passes the Senate, it will go over to the House where debate could begin as early as Wednesday night. House Democrats have pledged to make a change, most likely relating to the estate tax. Or they could consider a change in the estate tax provision as a stand-alone issue.

Another option is to "divide the question" as Democrats did on a bill for supplemental funding of the war in Iraq. To give anti-war Democrats cover, the maneuver -- used a number of times -- ensured anti-war Democrats a vote on their issue but enabled the House to vote on war funding and not leave troops in the lurch.

Still, the vote doesn't sit well with liberal Democrats like Rep. Peter DeFazio of Oregon who said it's like going "back to square one" after House Democrats voted on a resolution last week to refuse to bring up the bill for a vote.

Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vt,. told Fox News on Wednesday that he doesn't think House Democrats have the vote to kill it, but the bill is too costly.

"It's too few jobs and too much debt," Welch said, adding that Democrats support existing middle class tax rates, but "there's about a $200 billion ransom here that's being paid to get the support of the Senate Republicans and it's going from bad to worse. ... The estimates are that the cost of each job is going to be $400,000 if we borrow in order to finance that recovery."

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/12/15/senate-vote-package-extending-bush-tax-cuts/