Blue Dogs Press Pelosi for Quick Vote on Tax Deal

More than two dozen centrist House Democrats favor the tax-cut compromise that cleared the Senate today and want it brought up for a vote without amendments, The Wall Street Journal’s Washington Wire political blog reports. The 27 Blue Dog Coalition members signed a joint letter to Speaker Nancy Pelosi urging her to “promptly schedule this essential economic measure for a vote and act to send it directly to the president’s desk without delay.”

The blue dogs’ support could give momentum to a package, which includes tax cuts for every income bracket and unemployment benefits, that other congressional Democrats have criticized as too generous to the wealthy. President Barack Obama has reversed himself and broken with more liberal lawmakers in his party to back a modified, temporary extension of Bush-era tax cuts before they expire at year’s end.

The 27 signers constitute just half of the Blue Dog Coalition, which was decimated in the midterm elections.