Corker Urges Congress To Just Get On With Tax Cut Extensions

Tennessee’s Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker have joined in a threat to stop all legislation in the U.S. Senate until Congress deals with the so-called Bush tax cuts and government funding measures.

The tax cuts are set to expire at the end of this year. Republicans – and some Democrats – are using concerns over unemployment and small businesses to call for an across the board extension.

At issue is whether to extend the tax cuts to individuals making more than $200,000 and families making more than $250,000 a year.

The National Federation of Independent Business says limiting the extension to middle class Americans, as Democratic leaders want, would put a pinch on small business owners, many of whom employ between 20 and 250 employees.

Senator Bob Corker predicts a two-year extension of all the cuts.

“That’s where we are going to end up and I support that and I wish we would quit all the foolishness and get on with it and create some predictability out there.”

Democratic leaders say the mounting deficit makes it necessary to let some tax cuts expire and say critics overstate the effect on small business.

Still, Representatives Jim Cooper and Lincoln Davis are among many Democrats calling for a temporary extension of all tax cuts.

It’s hard to gauge the exact impact on small business in the state, but recent IRS figures show more than 20,000 Tennessee tax returns with incomes above $200,000, which list some business or professional earnings.

Senators Corker and Alexander joined all members of the GOP Caucus in signing a letter (pdf here) to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, saying the group would not go forward with any non-budget legislation.