President Barack Obama’s renewed push to raise taxes on people who make more than $250,000
is facing some strong head winds: Democrats running for Congress in 2012.
Several Democrats in critical House and Senate races say they prefer raising taxes on
people who make more than $1 million, the latest example of how the president and
vulnerable Democrats are mounting diverging campaigns just four months from Election Day.
Democratic Florida Sen. Bill Nelson’s “favored” position is to permanently extend the
Bush-era tax cuts for those making less than $1 million, according to his office. Democrat
Heidi Heitkamp, the North Dakota Senate candidate, also wants to extend the tax cuts for
those making less than $1 million. Former Nebraska Sen. Bob Kerrey, who’s running again in
his home state, “believes the $250,000 limit is too low but is evaluating how specific
proposals would affect the budget,” his campaign spokesman said.
Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) said Monday she is “open” to extending all the tax cuts for
those who earn up to $1 million if it’s part of a comprehensive deal to rein in the
deficit. Rep. Shelley Berkley (D-Nev.) supports extending tax relief for those families
earning up to $1 million, though she said she’s also “open” to all middle-class tax
relief and backs the president’s latest call.
Virginia Senate candidate Tim Kaine, the former chairman of the Democratic National
Committee, prefers a $500,000 threshold. Democratic Rep. Kathy Hochul, a top GOP target in
her upstate New York House race, wrote to House and Senate leaders on Monday asking for a
prompt vote to permanently extend tax rates for the middle class, noting that she, like
Kaine, believed it should be set at $500,000.
The clear difference with the White House underscores how Democrats on the front lines of
their congressional campaigns are not afraid to buck their party’s leader on even some of
the most high-profile issues of the election.
The divergence can be seen on other fronts as well: A handful of vulnerable Democrats are
expected to vote in favor of repealing Obama’s health care law when it comes up for a
symbolic vote Wednesday in the House. Coal-state Democrats have been openly criticizing the
president on energy policy. And several Democratic lawmakers in tough races are bowing out
of their party’s three-day convention in September, believing that physical distance from
the president during the convention may help them politically.
The mixed messages also represent a sharp shift in the tax debate in recent months. While
Obama has consistently called for tax increases on those earning more than $250,000 dating
to his 2008 campaign, Democrats in Congress have focused on raising taxes on families
earning more than $1 million.
Proponents of the so-called millionaires’ tax — led in part by New York Sen. Chuck
Schumer — believe it’s an easier pitch to make to swing voters, especially near major
cities where a $250,000 income may not stretch as far as in other parts of the country. The
argument, they argued, has effectively blunted the GOP attack that the tax increases would
hurt small businesses, though Schumer dropped his objection to the president’s latest
proposal, sources said Monday.
Obama has embraced the millionaires’ tax as well, agreeing to include it as a way to pay
for his American Jobs Act last fall and pushing the so-called Buffett rule that would
impose a minimum 30 percent tax on those earning more than $1 million.
But by renewing his call Monday to raise taxes on those earning more than $250,000 for one
year, Obama risks reopening party divisions that appeared to be smoothed over.
Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), who supports the Buffett rule but voted in 2010 against letting
the tax cuts expire for those earning more than $250,000, said people from his state are “
tired of temporary solutions to our long-term problems.”
“While I haven’t reviewed the administration’s proposal, it’s time for both sides to
stop playing political games and instead do what the people sent us here to do: Put our
financial house in order and leave America better off for the next generation.”
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