Murray: GOP protecting wealthy against tax increases is ‘detrimental’

Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) said the GOP attempts to protect the wealthy from tax increases “would be comical if they weren’t so detrimental.”

Murray spoke against the plan Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) introduced earlier this week, which would reduce the deficit by $2.2 trillion and raise $800 billion in new revenue, but not through raising the tax rates Democrats want.

“The lengths to which Republicans are now going to in order to protect the rich from paying higher rates would be comical if they weren’t so detrimental,” Murray said on the floor Wednesday. “They say they’ve accepted that revenue needs to be on the table — but then the proposal Speaker Boehner made to the president would actually cut rates for the rich.”

Democrats has proposed letting the Bush-era tax rates expire on incomes more than $250,000, while Republicans say raising taxes rates on anyone would harm the economy.

“House Republicans continue to hold the middle class hostage in a desperate and deeply misguided attempt to buck the will of the people, ignore the results of this election and protect the wealthiest Americans from paying higher taxes,” Murray said. “That’s really all there is to it.”

Murray said if the House approved the Senate-passed Middle Class Tax Cut Act, the GOP would get 98 percent of the tax cuts they’re asking for.

“Republicans don’t have to support taxes going up on the rich in order to vote for our bill to keep taxes low on the middle class,” Murray said. “Republicans can believe that the Bush tax cuts for the rich should be extended. They can remain committed to fighting for that misguided policy. And they can still vote on the portion of the tax cuts we all agree should be extended — those for the middle class.”

Lawmakers are working on a deficit-reduction plan to avoid the "fiscal cliff," which is set to take place at the beginning of next year when Bush-era tax rates expire and sequestration takes effect.

---