U.S. Sen. Tom Udall, D-N.M. (Photo by Heath Haussamen)
U.S. Sen. Tom Udall, D-N.M., was in the minority today in voting against President Barack Obama’s tax compromise with Republicans.
“While I understand the value of a compromise, the literal cost of this deal to future generations of Americans is too much to concede,” Udall said in a prepared statement.
New Mexico’s other senator, Democrat Jeff Bingaman, also voted against the bill, but he had previously announced his opposition. Udall had not.
The Senate approved the bill today on a vote of 81-19. It now heads to the House for consideration.
Two of three House members from New Mexico have expressed serious concerns about GOP-sought provisions that would extend the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans and change the estate tax.
Udall had also expressed concerns about those provisions, but said earlier this week that he hadn’t decided how to vote. In explaining his vote, Udall said today that the bill “will drive our national deficit upwards another $900 billion without any evidence that the deal struck would help our economy in the long-term.”
“With a depressed economy and high unemployment, we should be finding ways to create jobs, pull America’s middle class from the edge and bolster our economy,” he said.
“In terms of stimulating the economy, tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires is not an effective strategy,” Udall said. “And a compromise that significantly increases our already unsustainable debt while failing to spark job growth and the economy isn’t much of a compromise at all, and certainly not one I can support.”
White House touts bill’s ‘New Mexico impact’
The president was quick to push members of the House to support the legislation. A news release from the White House highlighted the “New Mexico impact” of the bill:
“The stakes are significant for New Mexico. If approved, 900,000 New Mexico residents will receive more money in their paychecks as a result of the payroll tax cut – something nearly every mainstream economist agrees is one of the most powerful things that can be done to boost economic growth. New Mexico residents also would benefit from the continued American Opportunity Tax Credit that helped 41,000 families across the state last year.
“Additional tax cuts in the legislation also geared at middle-class families include the Earned Income Tax Credit, that helps families to climb out of poverty, and the Child Tax Credit extension, that will make sure families don’t see their taxes jump by up to $1,000 for every child.
“Additionally, this bipartisan legislation would strengthen the safety net for 32,861 residents who are at risk of having their unemployment insurance (UI) benefits evaporate without Congressional action.”
Responding to the criticism expressed by Udall and others, the White House news release states that the bill includes “responsible, temporary measures to support our economy that will not add costs by the middle of the decade. The president does not believe it is affordable to make the high-income tax cuts permanent and will continue to make his case for why we cannot extend these measures beyond 2012.”
Update, 1:10 p.m.
Here’s Bingaman’s statement on the bill:
“In recent weeks, we’ve had several expert commissions tell us that we need to get the debt under control – and they have offered thoughtful, practical proposals. This bill is our first chance to begin considering their recommendations, and I see no evidence that we have taken those ideas into account.
“There are some positive provisions to strengthen our economic recovery, but the bill on the whole moves us in the wrong direction with regard to our other major problem of budget deficits. On that issue, it will start the 112th Congress off on the wrong track. For those reasons, I opposed this bill.”
Bingaman’s news release also states this:
“Earlier this month, Bingaman voted for two tax cut proposals that unfortunately were defeated. The first proposal would have extended tax cuts – enacted during the past decade – on the first $200,000 of income earned by a single wage earner, and $250,000 per couple. The second proposal would have extended tax cuts on the first $1 million. In 2009 only 571 of the 864,000 tax returns filed in New Mexico reflected income of more than $1 million.
“In a speech to the Senate on Tuesday evening, Bingaman said there are some good provisions in the bill, but on the whole the tax cuts for America’s wealthiest families make this package too expensive.”