Spratt predicts Dems will back Rangel’s tax bill

Democrats will support the proposed tax overhaul unveiled this week by House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) even if the party’s leadership did not rush to endorse it, said House Budget Committee Chairman John Spratt (D-S.C.).

{mosads}“He will have members rallying to his side,” Spratt said in an interview taped for C-SPAN’s “Newsmakers.”

Rangel unveiled his long-awaited proposal Thursday. The legislation would rearrange the tax code, cutting taxes for 90 million Americans and reducing the corporate tax rate while shifting the burden onto higher earners, including managers of private equity and hedge funds. It would also permanently shield taxpayers from the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT).

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) was careful to say that the plan was not endorsed by the entire caucus.

“In our caucus we will have our usual exciting, dynamic, give-and-take on the subject,” Pelosi said.

Spratt also said that it is possible that the Iraq spending debate could be settled by the end of the year. He said the funding legislation could pass if it would be dealt with as part of the overall spending debate that Congress is having with President Bush.

“The policy idea would be to have everything on the table,” Spratt said.

Other influential members have talked about putting off the supplemental until February or later. House Appropriations Chairman Dave Obey (D-Wis.) has said he will not send the Iraq bill to the floor until Bush changes course on Iraq, which the White House has rejected.