-
Adieu, Adieu, Remember Me
March 25, 2011 | 38 comments
-
DeMint’s Defense of RomneyCare is Ignorant…And Dangerous
March 17, 2011 | 85 comments
-
McConnell Pushing Vote to Block the EPA from Regulating Carbon Emissions
March 17, 2011 | 9 comments
-
More Barbour on Afghanistan
March 16, 2011 | 8 comments
-
House Passes Three Week Spending Bill
March 15, 2011 | 8 comments
The Spectacle Blog
The U.S. Senate on Monday voted to move forward on the tax deal cut by President Obama and Republicans, 83-15. It will now move on to the House of Representatives.
While the outcome of today’s vote was never in doubt, the overwhelming margin makes it a lot harder for House Democrats to seriously resist the bill. As Democratic Rep. Chris Van Hollen said, their caucus had strong reservations about the deal, especially on the estate tax, but, “We’re not going to hold this thing up at the end of the day…”
Van Hollen seemed to be suggesting House Democrats may hold a symbolic vote on estate taxes, but then another vote to approve the package as is and send it to the president.
There are other issues Democrats still have to or would like to tackle – a year-end spending bill, the START treaty and “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell.” The longer they stall on the tax vote, the less chance they have of dealing with those priorities.
Also, now that the Senate has approved the deal, House Democrats have very little leverage. When the Republican majority comes in next month, they would immediately vote to approve the deal, which we now know would coast through the Senate, and then be signed by the president. The problem with that option is that it would create a number of logistical hurdles for the IRS, and it’s extremely difficult to write tax legislation retroactively.
There’s no official roll call yet, but by my count, Democrats
voting no: Sens. Jeff Bingaman, Russ Feingold, Pat Leahy, Kirsten
Gillibrand, Bernie Sanders, Mark Udall, , Sherrod Brown, Kay Hagan
and Carl Levin, Frank Lautenberg,
Republicans voting no: John Ensign, Tom Coburn, George Voinovich, Jeff Sessions, and Jim DeMint.
View all comments (4) | Leave a comment
More Blog Posts by Philip Klein
http://spectator.org/blog/2010/12/13/tax-deal-moves-ahead-in-senate
Follow us:
ADVERTISEMENT
Current Issue
- The End of the Castros?
- Public Nuisances
- Ailes: A Voice for the Silent Majority
SPONSORED LINKS
FLASHBACK TO: 1995
-
Pope Culture
A man of faith in a godless age is hitting Americans where it hurts.
-
Why the GOP Does Not, Like, Totally Suck
Mr. and Mrs. American Spectator Reader, let P.J. O’Rourke talk sense to your kids.
-
Dames at Sea
-
In the Absence of Guns
In Britain, defending your property can get you life.
-
The Metaphysical Martini
-
Counting the Costs of Clintonism
The debacle of this president’s administration is both a cause and a symptom of the decline of American values. Unless Congress impeaches him, that decline will go on unchecked. An eminent jurist surveys the damage and assesses the chances for the recovery of our culture.
-
Chuck McHagel
It won’t take long for conservatives to scratch this presidential wannabe off their 2008 scorecard.
-
The Legacy of Old John and Mother Fresh-Roasted
-
It’s the Best Time of the Year
The American Christmas, like the songs that celebrate it, makes room for everybody under the rainbow. Is that why so many people seem to be hostile to it?
-
The Bush Crack-Up
Was the President done in by the economy, or by the politics of the economy?
Clip of the Day
ADVERTISEMENT
Ken (Old Texican)| 12.13.10 @ 6:49PM
Oh my!
Jim DeMint has just stuck his toe in the water for President.
Congratulations, Jim! Most of us hope you and Sarah will consent to serve. Have you and Sarah flipped a coin yet to see who heads the ticket?
Tim*| 12.13.10 @ 7:44PM
We Tea Party Rebels are urging the drafting of South Carolina's Senator Jim DeMint, Our Tea Party Kingmaker & Our Fearless Point Man in The Senate,for Candidacy in The 2012 Presidential Election.
He's got The Creds, The Working Experience & The Valor.
“I know exactly what needs to be done, and I know that I probably have the management and leadership skills to do it. But it’s going to be a painful job for the next president if they do it right.
“Taking apart this huge bureaucracy, fighting the government unions, doing the things that have to be done to cut spending and cut the size of the federal government and restore fiscal sanity. It’s going to be very unpopular up here. Just as I found in my own party.
“I want to look at the group of candidates who are standing up and telling the truth, and I’d hope it’s somebody other than me.”
We Tea Party Rebels hope it's Jim DeMint.
hsr0601| 12.14.10 @ 3:10AM
1. Future lies in Education & Energy.
I guess the economic boom in the Clinton-Gore administration was linked to the third wave of IT industry, rather than the triangulation he pulled off.
( And he didn't sell out his core value regarding tax, and so on. )
The forth wave of ET industry, likewise, lies ahead, CA starts to reap the benefits. Regrettably, the reps stand in the way of it.
2. Guess who will have to foot the bill eventually for paying off the rich ?
The rest of folks.
Wait until the new Congress comes back in 2011 and start looking for ways to cut spending to pay for all this $900 billion. They won't target things that affect corporations or the rich, the entire tab will cost the middle class and the elderly. Social security, Medicare, social services, education, will all be impacted.
3. A one-year reduction in the payroll tax from 6.2 to 4.2 percent will give the reps chance to fight its restoration, endangering Social Security, which the conservative movement has long sought to eradicate.
4. Currently, American businesses are sitting on approximately $2.3 trillion in reserves, which, of course, could be used to create jobs.
For instance, hospitals have serious problems with understaffing, not because of the financial squeeze, but because of the cost reduction.
( And the understaffing could spark prohibitive ER visits. )
In an attempt to defend the prodigious windfall, they resort to using the term of socialism or socialists for reformers.
5. Let me repeat :
Extreme Capitalism failed entirely in 2008.
From my perspective, Communism & Extreme Capitalism have several characteristics in common :
(a). Power First, Corruption at the cost of ordinary people !
(b). They hate competition, accordingly there is no progress.
6. Presently, another Bush-era is threatening health care law.
Ryan| 12.14.10 @ 8:12AM
Wrong.
Extreme CORPORATISM failed in 2008. Corporatism is the high influence of "big money" on both sides of the aisle. Corporatism is the removal of real competition from the workplace.
Businesses that were propped up by government money and mandate fell down hard. Conservatives do NOT stand in the way of technological advancement. It was the lack of regulation on a completely unknown and practically overnight IT industry that sparked the growth in the late 1990s. There was hardly a thing that the Clinton administration could do about it.
There IS a need for a simplification and re-working of the tax code. Corporations have far too many loopholes. Simplify and reduce taxes so businesses can start hiring and growing again.