UPDATE (5:25 pm) — Pence introduced an amendment on Wednesday aimed at permanently extending the Bush tax cuts and repealing the estate tax.
WASHINGTON — The number three Republican in the House signaled today that he will not support a package to extend the Bush tax cuts.
In a statement, Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.) expressed displeasure with President Obama’s bill to temporarily continue the tax rates set during the previous administration.
“I believe the short-term tax deal negotiated by the White House and Congressional leaders is a bad deal for taxpayers, will do little to create jobs and I cannot support it,” Pence said.
The $858 billion tax bill, which overwhelmingly passed the Senate on Wednesday, features, among other things, a two-year extension of current tax rates for individuals of all income levels, as well as a 13-month extension of unemployment benefits for the jobless — key pillars of the bill’s original framework that was negotiated by the White House and congressional Republicans.
Despite the fact that Congress has fewer than three weeks to pass an extension or risk saddling Americans with a tax increase come January, Pence said he wants the bill to go back to the drawing board. He believes that without a permanent extension of the current tax rates, businesses will be reluctant to boost hiring, thus preventing the nation’s nearly 10% unemployment rate from improving.
“The American people did not vote for more deficits, more stimulus or more uncertainty in the tax code,” Pence said. “That’s just what this lame duck Congress is about to give them.”
Pence, who has been rumored to be planning a presidential run in 2012, also objected to the bill on procedural grounds, arguing that it should’ve originated in the lower chamber due to its revenue-generating components.
The House passed legislation last week that would’ve kept the current rates steady only for families earning less than $250,000 per year. That bill was rejected in the Senate.
Following the Senate’s vote today, President Obama urged the House to quickly pass the bill without amendment.
“I hope that members from both parties can come together in a spirit of common purpose to protect American families and our economy as a whole by passing this essential economic package.”
The House is expected to take up the measure sometime on Thursday.