In the continuing battle over the Bush-era tax cuts, House Republican leader John Boehner of Ohio said on Sunday, September 12, that he was open to voting for President Barack Obama’s plan to maintain the lower tax rates for couples earning less than $250,000, but letting them expire for those earning more.
Speaking on “Face the Nation” on CBS, Boehner said that lacking any other option he would support Obama’s tax plan, but said that he thinks “raising taxes in a very weak economy is a really, really bad idea.”
Obama, in a speech on September 8 in Ohio, said he wanted to let the tax cuts passed under President George W. Bush — in 2001 and 2003 — to expire at the end of 2010, but just for individuals earning more than $200,000 annually or couples earning more than $250,000. The changes would affect dividend and capital gains rates as well.