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President Barack Obama's Republican foes in the Senate have blocked a move to let Bush-era tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans expire, rejecting in the process Democrats' efforts to extend those breaks just for the middle class.
Obama said he was "very disappointed" at the vote.
"It makes no sense to hold tax cuts for the middle class hostage to permanent tax cuts for the wealthiest 2 percent of Americans," he added.
In a rare weekend session that followed days of stormy debate, the 100-member Senate on Saturday fell short of the 60 votes necessary to approve the Democratic proposal of renewing low tax rates only for individuals earning up to $200,000 and for families with income of $250,000 or less.
The measure, backed by the White House, would have let rates on higher earners rise at the beginning of next year to where they were before cuts enacted by former president George W. Bush's administration in 2001 and 2003.
Republicans blocked the legislation on a procedural vote, saying the measure failed to extend low tax rates for wealthier Americans. They want all of the tax cuts - including those that directly benefit the top earners - to be extended instead.
They also rejected another Democratic proposal to extend the tax cuts for annual incomes of up to $1 million. A handful of Democrats voted against the two measures.
"With so much at stake, today's votes cannot be the end of the discussion," Obama said in a statement.
"It is absolutely essential to our hardworking middle class families and to our economy to make sure that their taxes don't go up on Jan 1."
Democratic leaders said that Republicans' plan to alleviate taxes for the rich would cost $700 billion over 10 years.
"It's also a bit contradictory to say you care about deficit reduction but not when it comes to tax breaks for the wealthiest people," Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer told Republicans.
His Republican colleague Charles Grassley shot back: "The bottom line is this: Stop the tax hikes!"
The White House has already set the table for a final compromise, indicating it will accept a temporary extension of the tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans.
Questions:
1. What happened in the US Senate over the weekend?
2. What was the measure?
3. What was the reason given by Republicans?
Answers:
1. The 100-member Senate fell short of the 60 votes necessary to approve the Democratic proposal of renewing low tax rates only for individuals earning up to $200,000 and for families with income of $250,000 or less.
2. Backed by the White House, it would have let rates on higher earners rise at the beginning of next year to where they were before cuts enacted by former president George W. Bush's administration in 2001 and 2003.
3. They said the measure failed to extend low tax rates for wealthier Americans. They want all of the tax cuts - including those that directly benefit the top earners - to be extended instead.
（中國日報網(wǎng)英語點津 Helen 編輯）
About the broadcaster:
Nelly Min is an editor at China Daily with more than 10 years of experience as a newspaper editor and photographer. She has worked at major newspapers in the U.S., including the Los Angeles Times and the Detroit Free Press. She is also fluent in Korean.
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