Pelosi Clarifies: No Tax Breaks For The Rich

During her weekly press conference on Thursday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) elaborated little on the issue of extending tax cuts, saying the “only thing I can tell you is the tax cuts for the middle class will be extended this Congress.”

That statement prompted some reporters to question whether or not Pelosi was possibly considering supporting tax cuts for all Americans - a position supported by nearly all Republicans.

Politico’s Jake Sherman wrote that Pelosi’s comments left “open the possibility that cuts for people making more than $250,000 could be extended at some point, too.”

However, a spokesman for the Speaker clarified her remarks in a statement released hours later.

“The Speaker has made her position abundantly clear and has repeatedly said that she supports President Obama’s middle class tax cuts. The Speaker is opposed to extending the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest 2 percent because they add hundreds of billions to the deficit and do not create jobs,” said spokesman Nadeam Elshami.

“As the Speaker said during her news conference today when asked whether she’s open to an extension of the tax cuts for the wealthy, she responded: ‘not for the wealthy, no.’”

Pelosi’s number two in the House, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), made news earlier in the week when he told reporters that he would be willing “to discuss alternatives so we can move forward.”

Hoyer, however, quickly made it clear that he would not support furthering tax cuts for the nation’s top earners.

“Unfortunately, the reports of my answer implied a willingness to support an extension of Bush policies. That is incorrect.”
 
Pelosi did not say when she expects a vote on keeping the tax cuts alive to occur. If neither chamber can get a vote lined up in the next two weeks, then the issue will likely have to be taken up after the November elections.