Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said Tuesday that
Democrats are ready to tackle the anticipated “fiscal cliff” head-on,
but warned of the possibility of tax hikes on the nation’s middle class
if Republicans fail to agree on cuts or to raising tax rates on the
wealthy.
"What I'm saying today is
that I'm not going to take that off the table," Durbin said when asked
if lawmakers might allow all of the George W. Bush-era tax cuts to
expire.
"We're going to face this once and for all in an
honest, bipartisan way. We're going to solve the problems facing this
country. Those who want to pick and choose 'Oh, let's take this off the
table, let's take that off the table' — no."
Sen. Patty
Murray (D-Wash.), a member of leadership, said Monday that her party is
willing to let a number of automatic spending cuts and tax increases —
which economists have dubbed the impending “fiscal cliff” — take effect
if Republicans continue to insist on extending lower tax rates for
annual incomes above $250,000.
The Bush-era rates are set to
expire on Jan. 1. President Obama has proposed an one-year extension for those who
make $250,000 or less. Republicans want all the Bush rates to be
extended permanently, a move Obama has vowed to veto.
Durbin echoed Murray's stance, which caught heat
from GOP leaders House Speaker John Boehner (Ohio) and Senate Minority
Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.), who said on Monday that Senate Democrats want to keep
taxes in check for the middle class but that to "face this honestly and
responsibly," spending cuts will have to come into play.
"Let's
just start with this premise: A majority of the Senate, and that would
be virtually all of the Democratic senators — the majority — are
prepared to vote today to protect middle-income families from any tax
increase," Durbin said Tuesday morning on CNN's "Starting Point."
Durbin said the burden was on Republicans to negotiate in good faith.
"If
you're asking whether or not we're going to give away this or that
before the day of reckoning, I agree with Sen. Murray — we have to face
this honestly and responsibly."
