Blue Dog U.S. Rep. Jim Cooper joined with most of Tennessee's congressional delegation in voting against the fiscal cliff deal passed late last night by the U.S. House of Representatives.
The Nashville Democrat was one of just 16 Democratic members to vote against the deal, which was easily passed by the Senate just after midnight on New Year's Eve. Memphis Democrat Rep. Steve Cohen voted for the deal, as did Sens. Bob Corker and Lamar Alexander. (For the national picture, check out this nifty map from The New York Times.)
Cooper's statement on his opposition to the last-minute — or should we say overtime? — deal is after the jump. As he alludes to, the deal addresses parts of the so-called cliff (taxes), and postpones others (spending cuts), adding to another cliff now fast-approaching. The White House breakdown is here. (Needless to say, the White House is not a spin-free zone.)
The main thrust of the deal is that it will allow the top marginal tax rate for individuals making more than $400,000 a year, and couples making more than $450,000, to revert to the Clinton-era 39.6 percent. For everyone below that level, the income tax rates achieved by the George W. Bush cuts become permanent. (That means your taxes won't go up ... except they will — keep reading.) Additionally, the deal increases the estate tax rate, but raises the threshold to estates worth $5 million or more, and extends unemployment insurance for another year.
What President Barack Obama, and congressional leaders from both parties have not been mentioning is that the deal did nothing to prevent the payroll tax holiday — a temporary 2-percent reduction in the Social Security payroll tax passed in 2010 — from expiring. According to the Associated Press, that cut was worth about $1,000 to a worker making $50,000 a year in 2012.
