Top Republican: Reconvene Congress before elections for tax-cut vote

Congress should return from the campaign trail and hold a vote on extending the expiring George W. Bush tax cuts before Election Day, the third-ranking House Republican said Thursday.

House Republican Conference Chairman Mike Pence (Ind.) claimed that a vote would allow business owners to jumpstart hiring by erasing uncertainty regarding whether tax rates will change at the end of the year.

{mosads}”I think Congress ought to come back into session before the election
and take a straight up-or-down vote on extending all the tax relief so
we can give some certainty to businesses around this country about what
their tax bill is going to be so they can make decisions and create
jobs,” he said during an interview on WOWO Radio in Indiana. 

Pence’s comment are a signal that Republicans intend to push the matter of tax cuts as a wedge issue with Democrats up until Nov. 2.

What to do with the Bush tax cuts, which are set to expire at the end of 2010, has flummoxed Congress, and the gridlock helped created a heated political climate on Capitol Hill just before lawmakers left Washington, D.C., last week to hit the campaign trail. 

A vote to adjourn without extending the tax cuts last Wednesday nearly failed, passing by only one vote, only after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) cast a rare vote to break the tie. 

A large bloc of centrist and vulnerable Democrats broke with leadership following a speech by House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) that framed it as a referendum on whether to raise taxes. 

“At least, Charlie, let’s take an up-or-down vote on making sure that no
Americans see a tax increase in less than 100 days,” he said. “And the
very idea that small-business owners, family farmers would have to wait
until a new Congress to be seated to find out what their tax bill is
going to be in 2011, I think, is antithetical to putting first things
first.”

President Obama and Democratic leaders in Congress proposed a partial extension of the tax cuts due to the flagging economic recovery, which has dominated other issues during the midterm campaign. They want to continue the cuts for families making under $250,000 and individuals who make under $200,000. 

But Republican and some centrist Blue Dogs want to extend all the tax cuts, including those for upper-income earners, at least temporarily until the recovery is on stronger footing.