Senators Jim DeMint and Tom Coburn offered two amendments to the tax cut compromise legislation that would have fairly and permanently extended all tax rates without adding to the load of overburdened taxpayers. More specifically, Senator DeMint’s amendment would have made permanent all current individual income tax relief provisions, the AMT patch, and repeal of the death tax. Senator Coburn’s amendment would have offset increased spending on UI benefits by cutting $156 billion from wasteful programs in the federal budget.
We released a Vote Alert in support of both provisions, but they failed to garner enough support. Due to the fact that both Senators filed their amendments under what is called a “motion to suspend the rules,” they each needed 67 votes for passage.
The Senate then proceeded to pass the underlying tax cut compromise by a vote of 81-19. The bill now goes to the House, where it could be voted on as early as tomorrow. The question is will House Democrats accept the proposal in its current form or insist on amending it before a final vote? No one knows at this point, but we’ll keep you posted as we hear more.