More House Democrats call for tax cuts for all

WASHINGTON - More Democrats joined Republicans Wednesday in calling for the preservation of tax breaks for Americans of every income level, bolting this election season from President Barack Obama's plan to preserve cuts for those who earn less than $200,000 and let taxes for the wealthy rise.

"We should not be raising taxes in the middle of a recession," Rep. Jim Marshall (D-Ga.,) who's facing tough odds in his bid for a fourth term, wrote in a terse letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

"It is essential that we keep things as they are in the short term," said Rep. Travis W. Childers (D-Miss.), another conservative incumbent in a tight race, whose district, like Marshall's, voted for Republican John McCain in the 2008 presidential race.

For this pair, one news release announcing their opposition to Obama's plan was not enough. They and other jittery moderate Democrats have signed a letter being circulated by Utah Rep. Jim Matheson urging Pelosi (D-Calif.) and other House leaders to abandon the Obama plan and extend to everyone the Bush-era tax cuts due to expire at the end of the year.

House and Senate leaders aren't saying which plan they'll propose, or whether they'll even bother with the debate in the charged political atmosphere leading up to the Nov. 2 midterm elections. All 435 House seats, 37 in the Senate and the Democratic majorities in both houses are on the line.

The divisions extended well into Democratic ranks on Capitol Hill. Moderates and conservatives in tight races were skittish about the prospect of being branded tax hikers at the height of election season if a bill to let taxes rise for the wealthy is brought up for debate.

Other Democrats said they relish the idea of holding a vote to extend only the middle class tax cuts and daring Republicans to vote against it. "I want to smoke some people out," said Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-N.J.), a supporter of the Obama plan who nonetheless said he was open to compromise.

Republicans, meanwhile, stayed together on their tax-cuts-for-all message and pressed for action before leaving town in October to go home to campaign. House Republican leader John Boehner, who over the weekend had suggested he would vote for Obama's plan if that were the only option offered him, stuck to the party's message yesterday.

"If we're serious about helping our economy this month we need to stop the tax hikes, and we need to cut spending," Boehner said.