Debate on tax cut extension likely to last through election

The Senate has debated, sniped and voted on the politically fraught issue of tax cuts, and next week the House is likely to do it all over again. Still, Americans won’t know until after the November elections how much more of their paychecks will go to the government next year. House Speaker John Boehner says that his Republican-led chamber is “more than willing” to make Democrats vote on the President Barack Obama’s plan to extend former president George W. Bush’s tax cuts for all but the wealthiest Americans. He also is bringing up the GOP’s proposal to extend the tax cuts for everyone. The outcome is almost certainly stalemated until the November elections, so leaders of both houses of Congress are turning the House and Senate into campaign stages on one of the defining issues of the presidential and congressional races. Obama signaled today he’s ready to do his part to light a fire under lawmakers. “I would urge the House of Representatives to do the right thing,” he told reporters during a Cabinet meeting. He says he and top aides will “amplify that message” in the days to come. The Senate opened the drama Wednesday with surprise debates and passage of a Democratic bill fashioned on President Barack Obama’s proposal to extend the income tax cuts to all but the wealthiest Americans through 2013. Read the full story here.