WASHINGTON (AP) — House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer says Congress should seriously consider only temporarily extending middle class tax cuts set to expire at the end of the year because making them permanent would add too much to the national debt.
President Barack Obama is proposing to permanently extend them for individuals making less than $200,000 a year and families making less than $250,000 — at a cost of about $2.5 trillion over the next decade.
Hoyer told a budget deficit forum Tuesday that the price tag may be too high. The Maryland Democrat also said that in the longer term, Congress will have to rein in spending and raise taxes to tackle the debt.
