{"id":24172,"date":"2010-12-09T06:46:17","date_gmt":"2010-12-09T13:46:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/?p=24172"},"modified":"2010-12-10T08:28:13","modified_gmt":"2010-12-10T15:28:13","slug":"all-but-teague-concerned-about-obama-gop-tax-deal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2010\/12\/all-but-teague-concerned-about-obama-gop-tax-deal\/","title":{"rendered":"All but Teague concerned about Obama-GOP tax deal"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

The U.S. Capitol building (Photo by Heath Haussamen)<\/p><\/div>\n

Four members of New Mexico\u2019s congressional delegation are expressing serious concerns about President Barack Obama\u2019s<\/a> tax compromise with Republicans, primarily because it includes an extension of the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans.<\/p>\n

The fifth \u2013 U.S. Rep. Harry Teague<\/a>, D-N.M. \u2013 supports extending the tax cuts for all Americans and expressed no concerns about Obama\u2019s proposal.<\/p>\n

U.S. Sens. Jeff Bingaman<\/a> and Tom Udall<\/a> and Reps. Martin Heinrich<\/a> and Ben Ray Luj\u00e1n<\/a> \u2013 all Democrats \u2013 voiced concerns about the deal on Wednesday. None of them pledged to support it.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we pass this unfunded tax cut for millionaires and billionaires, we\u2019ll be forced to borrow another $900 billion, most of it from China, that will be redistributed to America\u2019s wealthy. We simply can\u2019t afford that,\u201d Heinrich said in a statement released by his office.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlthough I haven\u2019t seen all the details of this new proposal, it appears to be a giveaway for the wealthiest Americans,\u201d Udall said. \u201cIt would give huge tax breaks to the wealthy while driving up the unsustainable deficit and passing on the bill to our children and grandchildren. At this point I\u2019m not sure I could support it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Many on the left are angered by Obama\u2019s compromise with Republicans. But others argue that there are a number of Democrat-sought provisions in the proposal, in addition to those sought by Republicans that would minimize the estate tax and extend the Bush tax cuts for all Americans, including the wealthy.<\/p>\n

As CNN reported<\/a>, \u201cother provisions in the $800 billion deal, including the payroll tax holiday and child tax credit, will greatly assist ordinary Americans. And those who are unemployed will benefit from an extension to file for federal jobless benefits through 2011.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOverall, it\u2019s very much worth doing,\u201d Chuck Marr, director of federal tax policy at the left-leaning Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, was quoted by CNN as saying. \u201cPaychecks will go up, and that\u2019s very important for the economy.\u201d<\/p>\n

The president warned that defeat of the compromise could trigger a new recession<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Concern about \u2018tax breaks for millionaires and billionaires\u2019<\/h3>\n

But the extension of the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans remains a stumbling block for many. That includes Bingaman, who voted against the original Bush tax cuts. On Saturday, he voted for a proposal to extend the tax cuts on the first $1 million of income, though he has said he prefers to extend the cuts only on the first $250,000.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have serious concerns about some parts of the proposal that was announced,\u201d Bingaman said of Obama\u2019s deal with the GOP. \u201cBut some parts are still being negotiated, and I will wait to see what is in the final package before deciding whether to support it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Luj\u00e1n said he \u201cstrongly\u201d supports tax cuts for middle-income and low-income families and small businesses.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe president\u2019 proposal includes many components I strongly support,\u201d he said. \u201cHowever, I remain concerned with tax breaks for millionaires and billionaires that would increase our deficit and hurt the middle class.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIn its current form, I am not inclined to support it,\u201d Luj\u00e1n said. \u201cWe must work towards a solution that keeps our focus on helping small businesses and middle class families.\u201d<\/p>\n

Udall said Washington must \u201cextend the tax rates for middle class Americans and New Mexicans who are struggling to pay the bills and provide for their families.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI voted to do that last weekend, and will continue fighting for that extension in the Senate,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The \u201cright thing to do,\u201d Heinrich said, is \u201csecuring the future of the middle class and ignoring the temptation to pile on to the deficit.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAmericans are looking for leadership that is serious about creating jobs and reducing the deficit \u2013 not tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans,\u201d he said. \u201cThe way to stimulate job growth is to make sure the middle class can afford to stop putting off buying that new refrigerator or getting the family car fixed, not by writing Donald Trump a huge check and hoping the money trickles down.\u201d<\/p>\n

Teague alone among delegation<\/h3>\n

Politico reported late Wednesday<\/a> that the president\u2019s proposal was picking up \u201ca new wave of Democratic support\u201d that signaled that the proposal \u201cwould make it through Congress, as long as most Republicans lined up behind it as expected.\u201d<\/p>\n

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid<\/a> announced that he hopes to begin consideration of the bill as early as today, which Politico reported was \u201ca sign that the measure will receive a filibuster-proof majority.\u201d<\/p>\n

And in the House, Politico reported, \u201chigh-decibel liberal complaints were countered by a silent minority of Blue Dogs, New Democrats and even a handful of veteran liberals who said outright that they would vote for the bill or hinted strongly in private that they were leaning in that direction.\u201d<\/p>\n

That would seem to include Teague, who has expressed support for extending the Bush tax cuts for all Americans in the past and reiterated that support on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

\u201cConstituents across southern New Mexico have shared with me their concerns about raising taxes at a time when the economy is still recovering \u2013 and I agree with them,\u201d Teague said. \u201cExtending these tax cuts is good for working families and for the small businesses that are creating jobs and putting New Mexicans back to work.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Four members of New Mexico\u2019s congressional delegation are expressing serious concerns about President Barack Obama\u2019s tax compromise with Republicans, primarily because it includes an extension of the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,1],"tags":[118,116],"class_list":["post-24172","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news-and-analysis","category-uncategorized","tag-economy","tag-washington"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24172","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24172"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24172\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24172"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24172"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24172"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}