DREAM Act Portal Forum - Reid sets tax-cut vote as talks continue

With bipartisan negotiations playing out behind closed doors, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) plans to move ahead with a vote, possibly as early as Friday, on a House-passed bill renewing the Bush-era tax cuts only for the middle class.

The vote will take place as administration officials and congressional leaders scramble to close a deal for votes on a series of legislative priorities – from the tax cuts to the START Treaty, unemployment insurance and less-publicized tax breaks for lower-income individuals.

The decision to schedule a vote reflects a growing frustration among Democrats as they try to keep the administration from negotiating away their must-do list of legislative initiatives.

In repeated meetings this week, White House officials made it clear to Senate Democrats they were willing to accept temporary extensions of the tax cuts for all income groups rather than risk the defeat of the START treaty, according to two Senate staffers familiar with the talks.

A White House official wouldn’t comment on the specifics of the private conversations, but said he wasn’t “aware of any linkage” being made between START and the tax cuts.

But Senate Democrats have expressed concern about whether they would get enough in return for agreeing to a temporary tax-cut extension, which many would view as a cave-in on the first major test for Democrats following a midterm election drubbing.

"Democrats have been blasting the Bush tax cuts for ten years. We aren't going to pass up a chance to vote our conscience on them because the White House has decided to negotiate it away for an extension of Ronald Reagan's START treaty," said a Senate Democratic staffer close to the talks.

Democrats would need, at the very least, an extension of unemployment insurance, billions of dollars in tax breaks targeted at the middle class and an omnibus spending bill, Democratic aides said.

Senators are also reluctant to negotiate away the right to consider a repeal of the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy prohibiting gays from serving opening in the military and the DREAM Act, which would provide a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants who serve in the military or attend college. These measures have been pushed vigorously by Democrats in recent months.

“Democrats haven’t agreed to anything,” said Reid spokesman Jim Manley. “We’re still not there yet.”

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs released a statement praising the House for passing a bill, 234-188, renewing tax cuts only for families earning less than $250,000, but suggested it was no substitute for bipartisan negotiations being led by Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and budget director Jack Lew.

“Those discussions started just yesterday and are continuing this afternoon,” Gibbs said. “The talks are ongoing and productive, but any reports that we are near a deal in the tax cuts negotiations are inaccurate and premature.”

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