Bush Tax Cuts

House Dems Also Punt On Upper-Income Bush Tax Cuts

Brian Beutler | September 23, 2010, 12:10PM

House Majority Whip James E. Clyburn (D-SC), House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), President Barack Obama, and House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD)

The Senate's decision not to address the Bush tax cuts until after the election is the strongest indication yet that the game is over. After a House Democratic caucus meeting this morning -- but before the news broke on the Senate side -- key legislators were mum, and aides pessimistic, that the House will do what Speaker Pelosi wants to do: force a vote on tax legislation that will put Republicans on the record backing tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans. Pelosi herself had earlier canceled a scheduled press conference, another sign that her attempt to rally the caucus was coming up short. With House Democratic leaders still insisting that they will follow the Senate's lead, it seems more and more likely that they too will drop the tax cut issue until after the election.

Pelosi's effort to wrangle her caucus into voting on middle-income tax cuts before the election appears not have dislodged conservative and politically vulnerable Democrats who either wanted to extend all the Bush tax cuts, including for high-income earners, or to avoid any kind of risky vote s close to the elections.

In what would be a surprising twist, one member of the Democratic leadership team suggested Dems might pivot away from the argument over upper-income tax cuts and press ahead with a separate raft of cuts before adjourning.

At a press availability after the meeting, TPM asked Majority Whip James Clyburn whether the House will "take up the issue of the Bush tax cuts" before adjourning next week. Clyburn puzzlingly responded by noting that the caucus stands behind a full extension of tax cuts in the stimulus bill. Those cuts are popular among Democrats and Republicans, but are ultimately a different issue than the Bush cuts.

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Ways and Means Committee

Rangel: I've Asked For 'Leave Of Absence' As Ways And Means Chair

Justin Elliott | March 3, 2010, 8:57AM

Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-NY)

Less than a week after the ethics panel found he violated House rules by taking corporate-funded junkets to the Caribbean, Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY) announced this morning that he has asked Nancy Pelosi for a "leave of absence" from his duties as chair of the Ways and Means Committee, pending completion of various ethics investigations.

Rangel took no questions from the press, but added that "from the very beginning I have offered this to Speaker Pelosi."

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