Pelosi Backed Boehner’s Tax Cut Proposal

A new tax on millionaires, if talks fail.

Image by Jason Reed / Reuters

WASHINGTON — Speaker of the House John Boehner’s “Plan B” to avert the fiscal cliff would cut taxes for incomes under $1 million — a higher threshold than the White House demands, but one that had a powerful backer, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi.

In May, Pelosi sent Boehner a letter calling for the immediate passage of a middle class tax cuts up to that level, while President Barack Obama was on the campaign trail calling for taxes to rise on incomes over $250,000. The White House has since revised that target at $400,000 in ongoing negotiations with Boehner, but has shown few signs it would accept the $1 million level.

“Democrats believe that tax cuts for those earning over a million dollars a year should expire and that we should use the resulting revenues to pay down the deficit,” Pelosi said in the letter.

A month earlier on The Charlie Rose Show Pelosi went further, noting Democratic opposition to the $250,000 mark.

“In our caucus, there is a school of thought that says let’s get rid of all the tax cuts,” she said. “I say, let’s begin by getting rid of tax cuts for people making more than a million dollars a year. I’m not even saying $250,000. The president’s saying $250,000. A million and above. Who can argue with that?”

Boehner’s backup plan would not deal with the mandatory spending cuts resultant from the failure of the super committee, while he is still negotiating with Obama for a more comprehensive solution that addresses spending.