DCCC slams Ways and Means Republicans for tax vote

By Bernie Becker - 03/29/12 02:50 PM ET

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is going after GOP lawmakers for backing a small-business tax cut being pushed by their leadership.

The campaign arm is sending releases to districts of certain House Ways and Means members, a day after the panel cleared a 20 percent deduction for small businesses on a party-line vote.

Democrats on the panel had criticized the proposal for being too broad — all companies with fewer than 500 employees in 2010 or 2011 are eligible — and helping hedge funds and other businesses that didn’t need the tax relief, a line of attack echoed by the DCCC.

“Rep. Vern Buchanan just voted to give more tax breaks to the wealthiest millionaires and billionaires, like Paris Hilton,” Jesse Ferguson, a DCCC spokesman, said in a statement sent to the Florida Republican’s district. “While Buchanan continues to defend tax breaks for the ultra-wealthy, he is doubling down in support of the Republican budget that ends Medicare and raises seniors’ healthcare costs.”

At Wednesday’s Ways and Means markup, Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-Calif.) also identified Larry Flynt, Donald Trump and abortion providers as among the potential beneficiaries of the GOP proposal. Rep. Sandy Levin (D-Mich.), the ranking member on Ways and Means, cited a Tax Policy Center analysis that said that those making north of $1 million would get 49 percent of the tax cut’s benefits.

The DCCC release was also sent to the districts of Reps. Jim Gerlach (R-Pa.), Erik Paulsen (R-Minn.), Tom Reed (R-N.Y.), Dave Reichert (R-Wash.) and Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), all of whom the campaign committee sees as potentially vulnerable.

Republicans have said the small-business tax cut, which has been championed by House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.), would give needed assistance to small businesses while policymakers work toward a comprehensive overhaul of the tax code.

GOP lawmakers have pushed a similar proposal in past years. But, unlike those measures, the current $46 billion legislation does not exempt financial services providers, country clubs and professional sports teams, among other industries.

Under the measure, which the House hopes to pass by around the mid-April tax deadline, eligible businesses would get to deduct 20 percent of their 2012 income, and the tax cut would be limited to 50 percent of a company’s W-2 wages.

Senate Democrats have unveiled their own small-business tax cut that would be available to companies that add payroll, either by bringing on new employees or offering raises to current workers.