Bill To Extend Only Middle-Class Tax Cuts Blocked In The Senate

Today, the Senate held two separate votes on the Bush tax cuts, but ultimately failed to extend any of the cuts that will be expiring at the end of the year. The first piece of legislation, which would have extended the Bush tax cuts for everyone making less than $250,000 per year, was defeated 53-36, falling seven votes shy of the 60 necessary to invoke cloture. Sens. Joe Manchin (D-WV), Russ Feingold (D-WI), Ben Nelson (D-NE), Jim Webb (D-VA) and Joe Lieberman (I-CT) joined all the Republicans in voting no. Eleven senators, all Republicans, did not vote. The second bill, which would have extended the tax cuts for everyone making less than $1 million, was defeated 53-37. As CNN noted, “Despite the realization that neither would get the 60 votes to succeed, many Democrats said before the vote they wanted to get on-the-record in support of extending the lower rates to lower earners.” On Thursday, the Housesuccessfully passed a bill extending only the middle-class tax cuts.