(September 22, 2010 - Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images North America)
The House of Representatives failed to act on renewing the Bush Tax Cuts today, deciding instead to pack their bags and head home until after November elections. In a last minute attempt to stave off adjournment, House Minority Leader John Boehner implored Congressional Democrats to “Vote no on this adjournment resolution… and… Give Congress a chance to vote on extending tax rates.”
The final plea was heard by 39 Democrats, but the resolution to adjourn passed by a count of 210-209 leaving the extension of tax cuts to be decided by a lame duck session of Congress post-election. More importantly, the delay will also leave many Americans wondering if 2011 will begin with a significant increase to their taxes.
The move to reach out to Congressional Democrats was among one of the most brilliant moves Boehner has made during his tenure as minority leader, and hopefully it will also be his last after the title is no longer necessary post November 2nd. With his speech and the narrow vote, he effectively turned the vote for adjournment into an up or down vote for which party legitimately wanted to see existing tax cuts extended – and the Dems came out on the losing end.
I think the only real bright spot to come out of today’s inaction by Congress is the fact that Nancy Pelosi was forced to cast the tie breaking vote as Firedog Lake aptly points out. I think it will be a rather fitting end to her time as Speaker of the House that her last important vote before the lame duck session was cast to effectively raise taxes on millions of Americans. So ends the reign of Nancy Pelosi. “Good Riddance to Bad Rubbish!!”
From The Hill via Memeorandum:
Three House Democrats who are running for Senate, Reps. Brad Ellsworth (Ind.), Charlie Melancon (La.) and Joe Sestak (Pa.) also voted against adjournment.
Here’s the full list of Democrats who voted against adjournment:
Rep. John Adler (N.J.)
Rep. Jason Altmire (Pa.)
Rep. Michael Arcuri (N.Y.)
Rep. Melissa Bean (Ill.)
Rep. Tim Bishop (N.Y.)
Rep. Bobby Bright (Ala.)
Rep. Chris Carney (Pa.)
Rep. Travis Childers (Miss.)
Rep. Gerry Connolly (Va.)
Rep. Joe Donnelly (Ind.)
Rep. Steve Driehaus (Ohio)
Rep. Chet Edwards (Texas)
Rep. Brad Ellsworth (Ind.)
Rep. Bill Foster (Ill.)
Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (Ariz.)
Rep. Martin Heinrich (N.M.)
Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin (S.D.)
Rep. Mary Jo Kilroy (Ohio)
Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick (Ariz.)
Rep. Frank Kratovil (Md.)
Rep. Betsy Markey (Colo.)
Rep. Jim Marshall (Ga.)
Rep. Mike McIntyre (N.C.)
Rep. Mike McMahon (N.Y.)
Rep. Jerry McNerney (Calif.)
Rep. Charlie Melancon (La.)
Rep. Mike Michaud (Maine)
Rep. Walt Minnick (Idaho)
Rep. Harry Mitchell (Ariz.)
Rep. Patrick Murphy (Pa.)
Rep. Glenn Nye (Va.)
Rep. Tom Perriello (Va.)
Rep. Gary Peters (Mich.)
Rep. Mark Schauer (Mich.)
Rep. Joe Sestak (Pa.)
Rep. Heath Shuler (N.C.)
Rep. Zack Space (Ohio)
Rep. Gene Taylor (Miss.)
Rep. Dina Titus (Nev.)
