House Passes Tax Cut Extension Package 277-148

Late last night, the House of Representatives passed the bill extending the Bush tax cuts for two years by a wider margin than some expected:

WASHINGTON — Congress at midnight Thursday approved an $801 billion package of tax cuts and $57 billion for extended unemployment insurance. The vote sealed the first major deal between President Obama and Congressional Republicans as Democrats put aside their objections and bowed to the realignment of power brought about by their crushing election losses.

The bipartisan support for the tax deal also underscored the urgency felt by the administration and by lawmakers in both parties to prop up the still-struggling economy and to prevent an across-the-board tax increase that was set to occur if the rates enacted under President George W. Bush had expired, as scheduled, at the end of the month.

Administration officials said Mr. Obama would sign the package into law on Friday.

The final vote in the House was 277 to 148 after liberal Democrats failed in one last bid to change an estate-tax provision in the bill that they said was too generous to the wealthiest Americans and that the administration agreed to in a concession to Republicans. The amendment failed, 233 to 194.

Supporting the overall measure were 139 Democrats and 138 Republicans; opposed were 112 Democrats and 36 Republicans.

Now that this battle is over, attention shifts back to the Senate where work remains to be done on the START Treaty, DADT repeal, and a spending package.

FILED UNDER: Congress, Taxes, US Politics, , , , ,
Doug Mataconis
About Doug Mataconis
Doug Mataconis held a B.A. in Political Science from Rutgers University and J.D. from George Mason University School of Law. He joined the staff of OTB in May 2010 and contributed a staggering 16,483 posts before his retirement in January 2020. He passed far too young in July 2021.

Comments

  1. Bob in Zion says:

    Democrats had no choice but vote for it. They had tried casting the GOP as the “Party of No”, but would have reversed that role on a package that would have affected everyone.

  2. Zach says:

    Seriously, guys? “Article Stolen from OutsideTheBeltway.com” in your own RSS feed? Chill out.

  3. Mithras says:

    What Zach said. At first I thought, “Wow, they’ve decided property is theft.”

  4. Guys I’m not sure where the “stolen from” thing is coming from. It appears to have just started some time over night. Will look into it

  5. anjin-san says:

    > Guys I’m not sure where the “stolen from” thing is coming from.

    There must be a Democrat out there somewhere with a kid in the 8th grade that can straighten out the seemingly endless series of technical problems that you guys are having with what it, after all, a fairly straightforward website 🙂

    The internets can sure be confusing…