Conrad opposes the expiration of the Bush tax cuts

The Bush tax cuts shouldn’t be allowed to expire at the end of the year, Sen. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) said Wednesday. 

Conrad, chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, said taxes — individual income taxes and capital gains rates — on the nation’s wealthiest Americans shouldn’t be allowed to rise until the economy is in better shape, according to news reports. 

Conrad said that neither spending should be cut nor taxes raised while the economy grapples for a solid grip on recovery. 

The Senate Finance Committee is weighing whether to move forward on a markup to extend some of the tax cuts enacted under President George W. Bush. 

Some lawmakers are requesting the meeting before the August recess as a way to boost consumer confidence. 

Republicans are calling for the extension of the tax cuts for all income levels, while some Democrats are suggesting that the cuts for those making $250,000 a year or more should be allowed to expire as middle-class tax cuts are held in place. 

While Democrats have mixed feelings about raising taxes as the economy recovers from a protracted recession, others are convinced at least some of those cuts should be allowed to expire. 

House Ways and Means Chairman Sandy Levin (D-Mich.) told The Hill on Wednesday that he is firmly against extending the tax cuts benefiting the wealthy. 

“My own view is that the high-income brackets should be allowed to expire,” he said. “I just think that the evidence is that the very wealthy have done, by and large, very well while the middle-income taxpayers have not.”

—Jay Heflin contributed to this story.