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Senate Defeats Democrat Attempt To Extend Middle-Class Tax Cuts By COREY BOLES WASHINGTON—The U.S. Senate on Saturday defeated a move by Democrats to extend the Bush-era tax cuts for the middle classes permanently, in a rare weekend vote that likely had little effect on wider negotiations to reach a compromise on how to extend the tax cuts. The Senate voted 53-36 to reject an attempt to initiate debate in the chamber on a measure that would have extended lower tax rates for individuals who earn less than $200,000 and couples earning less than $250,000. Under Senate rules, the motion would...

The U.S. deficit commission received the backing of a majority of its 18-strong panel, but fell short of the 14 votes needed to possibly trigger congressional votes on its recommendations. The panel's final plan would cut around $4 trillion from U.S. budget deficits by 2020 through an ambitious combination of an overhaul of the tax code, spending cuts and changes to the Social Security program. As the commission wrapped up its final meeting, several members urged Congress and President Barack Obama to take up the mantle and take aggressive action to tackle the nation's fiscal woes. The plan "deserves a...

The top Republican on the House Armed Services Committee is accusing the Obama administration of putting a political "spin" on the results of a months-long review of the 1993 law banning openly homosexual men and women from serving in the military, saying he wants to hear directly from senior officers on the issue. During an interview in his House office on Thursday, Rep. Buck McKeon, R-Calif., echoed his GOP counterparts in the Senate, who earlier in the day used the first of two days of hearings on a proposed repeal of the gay ban to criticize the Pentagon's review and...

Senate Republicans on Saturday voted against extending the Bush tax cuts to only the middle class in a pair of votes Democrats are seizing to paint the GOP as guardians of the rich. The Senate voted 53-36 to extend all expiring tax cuts on individuals with incomes of less than $200,000 a year and married couples making less than $250,000 -- seven shy of the required 60 to advance. The other proposal, which drew opposition from White House officials, would have renewed them for all tax filers with incomes of $1 million or less. That also failed in a 53-36...