Liberals still seething after passage of tax-cut deal (Washington Post) 12/17/10
By Felicia Sonmez
Liberal Democrats were fuming following the House's late Thursday night passage of the sweeping tax-cut package negotiated between President Obama and congressional Republicans, with some still smarting both at the end product and at a process that they said had left House Democrats out of the loop.
Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-N.Y.), the chair of the House Rules Committee, said after the late-night vote that she was disappointed that the House "wasn't even a supporting player" in the negotiations on the deal. But she added that the relationship between House Democrats and the White House wasn't likely to be adversely affected.
"They do what we do and we do what we do," Slaughter said. "And one thing I don't want to lose is the fact that what we are is separate but equal, and I insist on being treated that way."
Slaughter also said that her feelings on the tax-cut deal's package were mixed.
"Well, I'm happy that there will be the unemployment insurance," Slaughter said. "But there's not a whole lot in that bill to make me rejoice, I must say. I did not vote for it. I voted against it because I think in America, where we have such debt, so many unemployed, to spend $25 billion on 6,600 families is an atrocity, and we should be ashamed."
Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, which largely opposed the deal, said late Thursday night that the House had "done some severe damage" by passing the bill.
"This was not a fair deal," Lee said. "I'm deeply concerned about who's going to pay for this. We're talking about a $900 billion, almost a $1 trillion hit on our Federal Treasury and the deficit. You know who's going to pay. It's going to be low-income communities, the poor, the working poor, communities of color."
Only one member of the House Democratic leadership - House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) - voted for the final bill. House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-S.C.), one of four House Democratic leaders who voted against the measure, said in a statement that while he was glad the package extended middle-class tax cuts and unemployment insurance, "this measure does not create a single job or stimulate the economy in any way."
Some liberal members who were opposed to the deal and voted against it remained optimistic about how the debate over the cuts will play out in the future.
"[Republicans] argued in part that we couldn't raise taxes on millionaires because we were in a recession," Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) said. "But when this bill comes up again in 2012, we won't be in a recession. So I think we'll have a better chance of pinning on them this issue about, 'why are you protecting millionaires when in fact there's no recession?'"
Frank emphasized that liberal House Democrats did all that they could to influence the final product.
"The problem is tax cuts can be popular," Frank said. "The president undercut some of our arguments. The fact that it's a deadline; people were afraid they'd be accused of causing taxes to go up on middle-income people. Given that, I think we did as good a job as could have been done."
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