COUNCIL BLUFFS — Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, is not happy with how President Barack Obama cut a deal with Republicans to extend tax cuts and unemployment benefits.
“There was no debate, no veto threat. The president didn’t include any senior Democrats in the negotiations. I thought the president didn’t negotiate well,” Harkin said Thursday in his weekly conference call.
The White House, however, is modifying some of the original proposal, he added.
“It’s still a work in progress,” said Harkin, one of the Senate’s leading liberals.
He again criticized the part of the deal that extends Bush-era tax cuts scheduled to expire for the wealthiest Americans.
“I didn’t support it in 2001 (when) we had a budget surplus and were on schedule to pay off the national debt,” Harkin said.
The proposed two-year extension of all of the expiring tax rates will add $700 billion to the budget deficit, leaving less money for education, housing and other needs, Harkin said.
The idea of giving tax breaks to the affluent to help the economy is simply wrong, he said.
“It’s considered dead last for boosting the economy and creating jobs,” he said.
Harkin said he is inclined to vote “no” on the deal, however if unemployment benefits were continued for two years instead of 13 months as the plan offers, he might reconsider.
