Last time this issue came up, republicans got their way because they held middle class tax cuts hostage. This time around Sen. Murray came up with an idea to let all of the tax cuts expire.
It's being called #OffTheCliff on twitter because the so-called "fiscal cliff" -- when the tax cuts expire if Congress doesn't act -- happens at the end of the year:
There's been a lot of chatter about Sen. Patty Murray's big speech in which she claimed that Democrats hold the leverage in the coming "fiscal cliff" talks over the Bush tax cuts and that they should be prepared to let all the tax cuts expire if necessary to force the GOP's hand.
The idea is that if all the cuts expire, Democrats can come back and renew just the middle-class cuts, and dare Republicans to vote against it.
"If the Bush tax cuts expire," Murray said at the Brookings Institution on Monday, and taxes go up for everyone, the debate will be reset. Every proposal will be a tax-cut proposal, and Republicans will no longer be constrained by their no-new-taxes pledge. "If middle-class families start seeing more money coming out of their paychecks next year, are Republicans really going to stand up and fight for new tax cuts for the rich?" Murray asked. Read more at Times Union
