Considering that Dems have been bragging for weeks the the Bush tax cuts issue was a winner for them and would save them in November, this announcement makes all that class warfare rhetoric ring a little hollow.
The Hill:
A rift between centrist and liberal Democrats in both chambers of Congress has derailed plans for House and Senate votes on extending tax cuts before the election.Senior Senate Democrats said they plan to leave Washington by the end of next week without voting on an extension of the George W. Bush-era tax rates, which are set to expire at the end of the year.
A spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) announced the decision in a statement that blamed Republicans for holding up tax cuts for the middle class in order to prevent a tax hike on wealthier taxpayers.
"Democrats will not allow families in Nevada and across the country to suffer or be held hostage by Republicans who would rather give tax giveaways to millionaires and corporations that ship jobs overseas," said Jim Manley, the spokesman for Reid.
That dog ain't huntin'. The Democrats control the agenda and could almost certainly peel off 2 or 3 Republicans to get their version of the tax cut extension passed.
It is, as the Hill points out, their own moderate members who are balking at the vote. The GOP has nothing to do with it. And the rhetoric is so...so...2008. Can't they be a little more original in fomenting class envy?
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