Democratic measures to extend tax cuts for a majority of citizens failed in the US Senate on Saturday as Republicans — and some Democrats — blocked them because they failed to extend low rates for the wealthy.
US President Barack Obama said he was disappointed with the vote, but indicated he was open to compromise on the tax cuts enacted under former Republican president George W. Bush, if certain conditions were met.
The Democratic plans — to renew low tax rates for individuals with income up to US$200,000 and for those making up to US$1 million — failed in procedural votes, as Republicans said low tax rates for the wealthiest should also be extended.
Obama and other Democratic leaders want to extend only the cuts for low and middle-income groups, contending the tax breaks for the wealthy would add too much to the yawning budget deficit.
Republicans, who dismissed Saturday’s vote as a political stunt because the measures had been expected to fail, argue that raising taxes for the rich is a mistake that would cost jobs.
“Those provisions should have passed,” Obama told reporters. “I continue to believe that it makes no sense to hold tax cuts for the middle class hostage to permanent tax cuts for the wealthiest 2 percent of Americans — especially when those high-income tax cuts would cost an additional US$700 billion that we don’t have and would add to our deficit.”
He said negotiators needed to “redouble” their efforts to ensure middle-class citizens did not face higher taxes on Jan. 1.
A White House official said Obama told Democratic congressional leaders on Saturday that he was open to compromise but would oppose even a temporary extension if it did not include an extension of benefits for the unemployed and of other tax cuts that benefit middle-class families.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said he hoped to come to a consensus on the tax issue by the middle of next week but offered no details. Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said after the votes he was “relatively confident” that bipartisan talks would lead to an across-the-board renewal of the tax cuts and that the only unknown was the length of the extension.
The votes came two days after the House of Representatives passed an extension of the lower tax rates on individual income up to US$200,000. All the lower tax rates enacted under Bush in 2001 and 2003 will expire at the end of this year if the US Congress does not act.
Republicans will take control of the House next month and have more seats in the Senate following the party’s gains in the Nov. 2 congressional elections.
The electoral shift has emboldened Republicans and led some Democrats, including Obama, to signal a willingness to move toward the Republican position on the Bush-era tax rates.
Obama’s top economic advisers and lawmakers are in talks on a potential deal that could renew all the lower rates for one to three years, according to congressional aides.
Democrats want a one-year renewal of jobless benefits for hundreds of thousands of citizens, which began to expire this week when Congress did not agree on an extension.
Extending all the Bush-era tax rates would cost about US$3.6 trillion over a decade, according to administration estimates. Keeping them for those earning US$200,000 and under would cost US$2.9 trillion, while preserving the lower rates benefiting the highest income groups would cost US$700 billion.
Heavy rain and strong winds yesterday disrupted flights, trains and ferries, forcing the closure of roads across large parts of New Zealand’s North Island, while snapping power links to tens of thousands. Domestic media reported a few flights had resumed operating by afternoon from the airport in Wellington, the capital, although cancelations were still widespread after airport authorities said most morning flights were disrupted. Air New Zealand said it hoped to resume services when conditions ease later yesterday, after it paused operations at Wellington, Napier and Palmerston North airports. Online images showed flooded semi-rural neighborhoods, inundated homes, trees fallen on vehicles and collapsed
FRAYED: Strains between the US-European ties have ruptured allies’ trust in Washington, but with time, that could be rebuilt, the Michigan governor said China is providing crucial support for Russia’s aggression in Ukraine and could end the war with a phone call, US Ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker said. “China could call [Russian President] Vladimir Putin and end this war tomorrow and cut off his dual-purpose technologies that they’re selling,” Whitaker said during a Friday panel at the Munich Security Conference. “China could stop buying Russian oil and gas.” “You know, this war is being completely enabled by China,” the US envoy added. Beijing and Moscow have forged an even tighter partnership since the start of the war, and Russia relies on China for critical parts
Two sitting Philippine senators have been identified as “coperpetrators” in former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte’s crimes against humanity trial at the International Criminal Court (ICC), documents released by prosecutors showed. Philippine senators Ronald Dela Rosa and Christopher Go are among eight current and former officials named in a document dated Feb. 13 and posted to the court’s Web site. ICC prosecutors have charged Duterte with three counts of crimes against humanity, alleging his involvement in at least 76 murders as part of his “war on drugs.” “Duterte and his coperpetrators shared a common plan or agreement to ‘neutralize’ alleged criminals in the Philippines
In a softly lit Shanghai bar, graduate student Helen Zhao stretched out both wrists to have her pulse taken — the first step to ordering the house special, a bespoke “health” cocktail based on traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). “TCM bars” have popped up in several cities across China, epitomizing what the country’s stressed-out, time-poor youth refer to as “punk wellness,” or “wrecking yourself while saving yourself.” At Shanghai’s Niang Qing, a TCM doctor in a white coat diagnoses customers’ physical conditions based on the pulse readings, before a mixologist crafts custom drinks incorporating the herbs and roots prescribed for their ailments.
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