By Greg Sargent
On Friday
I reported that liberal groups and labor have hit on a legislative strategy to make the fight over the Bush tax cuts work in Dems' favor: Hold a vote just on making the middle class tax cuts permanent, without tying it to any vote on the high end ones.
Now Dem Reps. Raul Grijalva and Lynn Woolsey, the two co-chairs of the House Progressive Caucus, have endorsed this approach, sending a
letter to Nancy Pelosi asking her to carry it out:
As Co-Chairs of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, we would like to reiterate our support for President Obama's Fiscal Year 2011 budget proposal that would extend the Bush tax rates for the middle class, but permit the tax levels to return to previous levels for single taxpayers making more than $200,000 or married couples making more than $250,000. We respectfully request that we have a Caucus discussion regarding our position before any proposal is brought to the Floor....
We believe extending the Bush tax cuts would be a giveaway to the nation's wealthiest people and would significantly increase government debt. This debt, in turn, will be paid by the lower and middle classes through increased interest payments and decreased social services for generations to come. This astronomical sum could instead be used to close our budget deficit. It is critical that we pass President Obama' s middle-class tax proposal without providing an even greater lift for the wealthiest Americans who don't need it.
It's impossible to read this without hearing echoes of the public option debate: Liberals and labor pressed Dem leaders hard to include it as a key pillar of health reform; they made a strong substantive and political case; Dem leaders nodded their heads in agreement; and it ultimately never happened. So you might be forgiven for thinking you're watching a rerun of a bad movie. Also, you'll recall that Dems didn't do this before the election because they feared they couldn't pass it in the House, making it unlikely that they will do it now.
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