Pelosi: Dem Caucus Not Sold on Tax Deal
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) escalated the Democratic criticism of the tax cut deal President Obama struck with Republicans and singled out the GOP-favored estate tax proposal as “a bridge too far.”
Pelosi, speaking to reporters for the first time since Obama announced the tentative agreement on Monday, acknowledged there was “unease” in the House Democratic caucus about the deal.
“We are listening to what our caucus has to say, but so far, the response has not been very good,” the Speaker said after a leadership meeting in her office.
The full caucus was set to discuss the proposals at a Tuesday evening caucus meeting, and Pelosi’s remark, along with similar comments from other Democratic leaders, sent a strong signal that the caucus would fight at least the estate tax portion of the framework Obama announced.
The Obama-GOP agreement sets the inheritance tax at 35 percent for individuals bequeathing more than $5 million to their heirs. The Democratic-controlled House passed a bill in 2009 that would set the estate tax at 45 percent and start the exemption at $5 million.
“We believe the estate tax in the bill is a bridge too far,” the Speaker said. That provision shifts the balance in the agreement to Republicans and “ends any kind of symmetry between the two sides.”
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