Lawmakers Can't Resist Voting to Extend Bush's Tax Cuts

The legislation passed the House, 339 to 65, and the Senate, 92 to 3, less than 24 hours after negotiators from both chambers agreed on a final bill. Bush has pledged to sign the measure.

The legislation would extend three income tax cuts that were to expire this year: an increased child tax credit, expansion of the 10% income tax bracket, and relief from the tax code's "marriage penalty." It also would extend a number of business tax breaks.

Democrats expressed concern that extending the tax cuts, which have been popular with many middle-income voters, would deepen the federal budget deficit, projected to reach $422 billion this year.

But most lawmakers found it politically impossible to oppose the measure. The bill's sponsors argued that a vote against the measure was equivalent to a vote to raise taxes.

Rep. Charles B. Rangel of New York, the top Democrat on the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee, accused Republicans of a cynical ploy to get Democrats to vote against tax cuts on the eve of an election.

"We would vote no, not because we are against the tax cuts, but because we have some sense of responsibility

One of the few Republicans to publicly express concerns about the bill's price tag was Sen. John McCain of Arizona, who voted for the measure but said, "We have got to start making some tough choices around here."

The legislation provided no reductions in spending or increases in other taxes to offset the expected loss to the Treasury of almost $146 billion.

Greg Valliere, chief strategist at Schwab Washington Research Group, said, "No one worries much about the deficit when there are federal goodies to be doled out ahead of an election."

The action came amid heightened partisan tensions on Capitol Hill as the elections for control of Congress and the White House grow near.

Just before the vote, Democrats highlighted a new Congressional Budget Office projection that, while the deficit is expected to drop over the next several years, it will rise to an estimated $439 billion in 2014.