By: Susan Ferrechio
Chief Congressional Correspondent
April 16, 2010
As protesters rallied outside, Democrats and Republicans engaged in a battle over taxes in the Capitol, with Democrats claiming credit for massive tax cuts while Republicans accused them of actually raising taxes by hundreds of billions of dollars and breaking President Obama’s pledge to not raise taxes on the middle class.
The first volley was fired by House Democrats, who sent a missive to reporters proclaiming they have led Congress to cut taxes by more than $800 billion.
“In the midst of the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, Congress and the President acted swiftly to bring relief to our nation’s families and businesses, and create good-paying jobs,” Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said in a statement. “A critical element of that relief and recovery effort was tax cuts for the middle class and small business owners.”
Pelosi credited the $850 billion stimulus bill, saying more than one-third of it is comprised of tax relief for the middle class.
Democrats are also touting the new health care law as a tax cut because many people will get tax credits if they purchase health insurance.
Incredulous Republicans disputed the claim, saying much of what Democrats call tax cuts is actually government spending, and that the party has passed middle class tax increases and is planning more, including a potential fuel tax, a tax on those who do not purchase health insurance and a tax on expensive insurance plans.
