By a narrow 210 to 209 margin, the House on Wednesday voted to adjourn for the fall campaign season without voting on whether or not to extend the Bush tax cuts. Thirty nine Democrats joined Republicans in opposition to the move. The closeness of the vote is further evidence of Democrats in tough races trying to distance themselves from Nancy Pelosi as the election nears.
On Tuesday, 47 Democrats sent a letter to Pelosi urging the extension of the Bush tax cuts on investments. While this hasn’t received as much attention as other aspects of the tax issue, in reality raising capital gains taxes could prove devestating to markets and the dividend tax hikes would hurt seniors who depend on such income.
As it turns out, during one of the Democratic presidential debates, Barack Obama was asked how he could support hiking capital gains taxes when in each case that’s been tried, it’s reduced government revenue. Obama responded that he still supports raising taxes on successful investing for “purposes of fairness.”
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