Politics & Government

Local U.S. Reps Vote Yes on 'Fiscal Cliff' Deal

U.S. Reps. C.W. Bill Young and Kathy Castor, whose districts include Pinellas County, voted yes on the fiscal cliff deal. U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson voted yes, while U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio voted no.

U.S. Reps. C.W. Bill Young, a Republican, and Democrat U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor both voted "yes" late Tuesday night in favor of the so-called "fiscal cliff" deal. 

Young and Castor, whose districts both include portions St. Petersburg, were joined by fellow Florida Reps. Corrine Brown (D), Vern Buchanan (R), Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D), Ted Deutch (D), Frederica Wilson (D), Alcee Hastings (D), Ander Crenshaw (R), Mario Diaz-Balart (R) and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R) in voting for the bill.

Thirteen Republican Representatives from Florida opposed the bill while all Democrats supported it. 

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According to the Wall Street Journal, it is the first time since 1991 that a Republican Congress has supported tax increases. 

"In policy terms, it permanently codifies most of the tax rates that were set only temporarily in the Bush era. After years of failed efforts, the bill permanently keeps the middle class from being hit by the alternative minimum tax, a 1960s edifice intended only for America's wealthiest."

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Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Florida, supported the measure, while Republican Sen. Marco Rubio did not.

According to the Huffington Post

"The bill also keeps the estate tax threshold at $5 million, extends emergency federal unemployment benefits for one more year, and delays for two months the "sequester" that made up the spending cut portion of the cliff. It also extends the stimulus-boosted child tax credit and the college tuition credit for five years, individual and business tax breaks for two years, and the Medicare "doc fix" for one year, preventing a 27 percent payment cut for physicians. The Alternative Minimum Tax will be permanently fixed, and the farm bill will be extended for one year."  


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