Amendment to Extend Middle-Class Tax Cuts

Aug. 1, 2012 | H.Amdt. 1473 to H.R. 8

While House Republicans pushed to extend the Bush tax cuts for the nation's wealthiest 2 percent, Democrats offered an amendment that would permanently extend tax cuts on income under $250,000 for joint filers ($200,000 for individuals), or about 98 percent of taxpayers and 97 percent of small business owners. The Democratic alternative would save the federal government nearly $1 trillion over the next 10 years; revenue that could be invested in jobs, infrastructure improvements, education, and protecting programs like Medicare and Medicaid, as well as reducing the deficit. The middle class tax cut was defeated.