House Democrats Tell Obama: Don't Cave on Tax Cuts

House Democrats aren’t making it easy on President Barack Obama as his aides try to negotiate an extension of the Bush-era tax cuts for everyone in exchange for a continuation of unemployment benefits. Liberal House leaders want him to take a tougher bargaining stance, The Hill reports.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, and Rep. Chris Van Hollen have made clear in meetings with the White House that Democrats “are not going to just rubber-stamp” any deal that the White House and congressional Republicans might reach, a Democratic source told The Hill.

The House Democrats want an extension of middle-class tax breaks that were part of last year’s stimulus package, the unemployment insurance extension to come without offsetting spending cuts, and tax cuts for the wealthy to be extended only temporarily, according to the source.