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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Road Walker who wrote (263847)	12/8/2005 1:24:27 PM
From: Alighieri	Respond to of 1574052

House GOP Pushes Ahead With Tax Cut Agenda By MARY DALRYMPLE, AP Tax Writer 2 hours, 14 minutes ago WASHINGTON - House Republicans, finally advancing their tax priority for the year, pushed forward Thursday with plans to keep reduced rates for capital gains and dividends alive for an extra two years. It's one part of a bill reducing taxes $56 billion over five years. House GOP leaders want to make sure that 15 percent tax rates for investment income stay in place past the end of 2008, when they're scheduled to disappear. "Obviously, the current tax policy of this Congress has encouraged economic growth, and to raise taxes now would close the door of opportunity that is open for so many today," said Rep. Adam Putnam (news, bio, voting record), R-Fla. "Now is not the time to increase taxes on the American people." The White House praised the bill. "These extensions are necessary to provide certainty for investors and businesses and are essential to sustaining long-term economic growth," the president's budget office said in a statement. Democrats disagreed. Rep. Louise Slaughter, D-N.Y., said Republicans were working for the "super rich." "This bill is for them, the men and woman among us who earn more than $1 million a year," she said. Some moderate Republicans have had misgivings about the wisdom of passing a tax cut when the GOP wants, at the same time, to shave federal spending on government programs like Medicare and Medicaid. The government also faces big bills for hurricane cleanup, while trying to manage federal budget deficits. Some moderates remained undecided the day before the House's planned debate Thursday over those and other tax cuts. Rep. Chris Shays, R-Conn., said he was unsure but inclined to back the tax bill because capital gains and dividend tax cuts had driven an "economic engine" reviving the economy. Rep. Sherwood Boehlert (news, bio, voting record), R-N.Y., said lawmakers have time before the capital gains and dividend tax cuts expire at the end of 2008 to consider an extension. "I don't see an obvious need to do it right now," he said. Boehlert said "smart tactics" devised by the House's top tax writer, Ways and Means Committee Chairman Bill Thomas, may have smoothed the bill's path by letting lawmakers first vote on legislation preventing some 17 million taxpayers from facing higher taxes next year because of the alternative minimum tax. "That was a very wise move," he said. The House voted 415-4 on Wednesday to pass a bill blunting the tax's impact next year. The alternative minimum tax was invented to ensure wealthy individuals couldn't escape taxation, but it has become a growing bane to the middle class. The House bill would save millions of taxpayers from together owing more than $31 billion in extra taxes in 2006, but the bill may not be completed before a temporary solution expires at the end of the year. House and Senate lawmakers want to prevent the alternative minimum tax from hitting more individuals and families this year, but their different approaches to this year's tax agenda may make it difficult to quickly iron out their differences. The Senate struggled to get enough support for a two-year extension of capital gains and dividends tax cuts this year. They ultimately decided to drop the effort for a short time to get their tax agenda moving. Senate leaders vowed to make sure the final version of the legislation keeps the investment tax cuts alive. Much of the rest of the House bill scheduled for debate Thursday extends tax breaks disappearing at the end of the month. They include deductions for teachers who purchase classroom supplies, and deductions for tuition and state and local sales taxes. Businesses would also keep a tax credit for research and development. Democrats have no objection to preserving many of the tax breaks expiring at the end of the year, but they would get rid of the capital gains and dividend extension. Their alternative tax package would reduce taxes $43 billion, but offset the tax cuts with a tax increase on individuals earning $500,000 or more and couples earning $1 million or more.