The Democratic-controlled U.S. Senate has approved legislation to extend tax cuts for middle-income Americans, while allowing them to expire for the wealthy.
The bill, approved Wednesday by a vote of 51-48, would maintain tax cuts passed during the tenure of former president George W. Bush on Americans making under $250,000. The measure is sure to be voted down in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives. Earlier Wednesday, the Senate rejected the Republican-backed bill that would have extended all of the Bush-era tax cuts was rejected.
Wednesday's vote gives Democrats and President Barack Obama an election-year campaign issue to highlight their differences with House Republicans, who have vowed not to bring the bill up for a vote. Mr. Obama issued a statement saying House Republicans are "holding hostage the middle-class tax cuts for 98 percent of Americans."
Lawmakers are facing the prospect of a so-called "fiscal cliff" next January, when all the Bush-era tax cuts expire and automatic spending cuts for the military and domestic programs take effect, which economists say could push the struggling U.S. economy back into recession.
The bill, approved Wednesday by a vote of 51-48, would maintain tax cuts passed during the tenure of former president George W. Bush on Americans making under $250,000. The measure is sure to be voted down in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives. Earlier Wednesday, the Senate rejected the Republican-backed bill that would have extended all of the Bush-era tax cuts was rejected.
Wednesday's vote gives Democrats and President Barack Obama an election-year campaign issue to highlight their differences with House Republicans, who have vowed not to bring the bill up for a vote. Mr. Obama issued a statement saying House Republicans are "holding hostage the middle-class tax cuts for 98 percent of Americans."
Lawmakers are facing the prospect of a so-called "fiscal cliff" next January, when all the Bush-era tax cuts expire and automatic spending cuts for the military and domestic programs take effect, which economists say could push the struggling U.S. economy back into recession.