Republicans Block Bipartisan Tax Deal

“The Senate rejected a bill on Thursday that would have restored lapsed tax breaks for businesses and expanded the child tax credit, as many Republicans in the chamber lined up against the bipartisan deal in hopes of gaining an advantage in bigger tax legislation expected next year,” the New York Times reports.

“The roughly $80 billion bill had seemed to have everything. It soared through the House earlier this year with broad bipartisan support, a rare feat. Business groups loved it and hoped Congress would again allow companies to immediately deduct the full cost of capital investments and research expenses from their tax bills. And anti-poverty activists cheered its expansion of federal support for parents with children.”

“But the effort — spearheaded by Representative Jason Smith, Republican of Missouri and the Ways and Means Committee chairman, and Senator Ron Wyden, Democrat of Oregon and the Finance Committee chairman — still ran aground in the Senate. Republicans senators worried that the bill’s expansion of the child tax credit veered into creating a new welfare program, stalling the legislation.”

CNN: Senate GOP blocks tax bill as Democrats spotlight child credit in election-year push.