Earlier this summer, Senators Conrad and Bayh bucked White House opposition by calling for extending the Bush tax cuts for all taxpayers, including the wealthy. President Obama and his advisors have strenuously opposed any extension for the wealthiest taxpayers. But now with the recession lingering on (or, at best, a very anemic recovery limping along), more Democrats are joining the call for extending the Bush tax cuts for all taxpayers. With the President's political standing at or near an all-time low and the Democrats facing disaster in November, I expect to see more Democrats joining Conrad, etc. in resisting the President's opposition to these tax cuts. And with the Republicans likely to make major gains, it's hard to see how the President will be able to resist this wave when the new Congress convenes.
This week, several Democrats announced their support for extending the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy. The list of Democrats now includes at least three Senators (the article doesn't say, and I'm not sure who the other Democrat is in addition to Conrad and Bayh), two freshman congressmen, and two Democratic senate candidates.
Democratic leaders in Congress still back Obama, but the willingness to raise taxes is waning among the rank and file as the stagnant economy threatens the party's majority in the House and Senate.
"In my view this is no time to do anything that could be jarring to a fragile recovery," said Rep. Gerry Connolly of Virginia, a first-term Democrat . . . .
Another freshman Democrat, Rep. Bobby Bright of Alabama, said he would like to see all the tax cuts extended for two or three years, if lawmakers cannot agree on a more permanent plan.
"Party leaders are not my directors or my boss," Bright said. "My boss is my constituents, and I've heard from a vast majority of my constituents that they don't believe in tax increases on anybody at this point in time."
While these Democrats are from Republican-leaning states where the President's popularity is especially low, they almost certainly are not the only Democrats who would be ready to vote with the Republicans on this issue in the new Congress. If the Republicans make major gains in November, does anyone here seriously believe that the remaining Democrats will stand firm in resisting the extension bandwagon? And, in that event, how likely is is that the President will risk a major political blowup with the new Congress so soon after its seating? Those who think that Reid and Pelosi will be able to enact a progressive tax bill in the lame-duck session are kidding themselves. The only hope of passing a tax bill that can remotely be called progressive is for the Democrats to do it between now and the election. But with more and more Democrats jumping ship (or considering jumping parties in the case of Senator Ben Nelson), that prospect is looking increasingly unlikely.