Durbin: Middle-class definition unchanged

The Illinois Democrat’s comments come amid chatter that lawmakers in his party were uncomfortable with President Obama’s plan to pay for his $447 billion jobs package, which included tax proposals aimed at families earning $250,000 a year.

At a news conference this week, Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) said households making $250,000 or $300,000 a year were “not rich,” and that setting the threshold for a higher tax bill at $1 million would help many small businesses.

{mosads}But on Friday, Durbin gave a full-throated endorsement to allowing the Bush-era rates for families making more than $250,000 annually to expire, as scheduled, at the end of next year.

The tax-cut compromise agreed to at the end of last year extended all of the Bush tax cuts for two years, but the president has vowed to not extend the rates for individuals making north of $200,000 a year and families earning more than $250,000.

“I’ve gone through this calculation to try to assume that they end, assume they don’t end, and the impact it’s going to have on our deficit,” Durbin said. “If we don’t bring an end to these Bush tax cuts, over $250,000, the deficit picture gets gloomier and gloomier for the next 10 years.”

In his interview, Durbin also said that Republicans risk voters’ ire if they don’t get behind the president’s jobs plan, saying GOP officials have previously supported many of its proposals, like the payroll tax cut.

“I’ll tell you, if the Republicans take the current position and hold it, that they’ll do nothing, I think they’ll pay a price for it,” Durbin said.