House Okays Fiscal Cliff Bill

Capitol Building at night

By Matt Rooney | The Save Jersey Blog

The fiscal cliff bill is headed to President Obama after receiving late Tuesday evening approval from the House of Representatives. At roll call, 85 Republicans and 172 Democrats voted YEA; 151 Republicans and 16 Democrats voted NO.

Eric Cantor appeared to lead the opposition from the Right (which represented a majority of House Republicans); Paul Ryan was among those voting YEA, as was New Jersey’s Jon Runyan (NJ-03) who shared the following explanation with his Facebook fans:

Given the choices on the table, I ultimately decided to support the compromise to spare my constituents and 99% of American taxpayers an income tax hike that neither they nor our economy can afford. Unfortunately, this legislation is merely another Washington-generated band-aid that does little more than kick the can down the road again, while failing to address the federal government’s unhealthy addiction to spending. I am hopeful the President and members of both the House and Senate can do more problem-solving and less finger-pointing in the next Congress and address the very serious fiscal problems we face.”

Runyan was joined by Chris Smith, Rodney Frelinghuysen, Frank LoBiondo and Leonard Lance. Only Scott Garrett voted NO out of the entire state delegation. 

What does tonight’s vote mean? Tax rates won’t go up (for now) on most medium and low income earners, but in real terms, 77% of U.S. households (115-120 million) will still pay more taxes for 2013 as a direct result. That’s a big price to pay for a bill that’s merely a detour to the fiscal cliff, Save Jerseyans. But you already knew that…

Click here to see how your House member voted.

You can read a full text of the fiscal cliff bill (H.R. 8) right here (h/t Politico).

 

Matt Rooney
About Matt Rooney 8403 Articles
MATT ROONEY is SaveJersey.com's founder and editor-in-chief, a practicing New Jersey attorney, and the host of 'The Matt Rooney Show' on 1210 WPHT every Sunday evening from 7-10PM EST.

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