New House Democrats wary on taxes, bailout

Tom Curry National affairs writer • Profile • E-mail

WASHINGTON - A mandate for change for President-elect Barack Obama? Sweeping enactment next year of the long-delayed Democratic agenda? A tax hike on those earning more than $250,000 a year, as Obama indicated during the campaign?

Not so fast, say some of the newly elected Democrats who gathered at the Capitol Monday for their orientation to the House of Representatives.

Political reality looks different if you’re a new Democratic member from Montgomery, Ala., rather than, say, San Francisco, home of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

For Democrat Bobby Bright, the mayor of Montgomery, the themes in his first day at the Capitol as a member-elect were no new taxes and no bailouts.

“I am not in favor of any tax increase. The people of this nation are taxed enough,” he said. “Right now, the economy is in such bad shape, we don’t need to start hitting our average citizens — I don’t care what level they are.”

Bright won the 2nd Congressional District, which had been represented by retiring Republican Terry Everett.

Hyundai at home in Alabama
The district is home to a Hyundai manufacturing plant and a number of supplier firms. Just across the state line in Georgia will be a new Kia plant where many of his constituents will find jobs. There are 6,500 auto and auto-related jobs in his district.

Bright and his constituents take a dim view of the proposed taxpayer bailout of Hyundai’s competitors — General Motors, Chrysler, and Ford — which Pelosi and other Democratic leaders have pushed.

“I don’t look favorably on it at all,” he said. “Generally I came up the hard way and no one ever bailed me out. I always had to stand on my own two feet.” He also opposed the bailout of financial firms that Congress enacted last month.

Asked about Obama and his mandate, Bright noted that “he got 39 percent in Alabama. He’s got a lot of work to do to gain the support and confidence of the people of district 2. I’m not saying he can’t do that. I think he can.”

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Representative-elect Michael McMahon, the New York Democrat who won the seat that had been held by scandal-plagued Republican Rep. Vito Fossella, also sounded doubtful about tax increases.

“I represent Staten Island and Brooklyn where a lot of people work on Wall Street,” McMahon explained Monday as he took a break from the new members’ orientation. “Some have already lost their jobs. Some are facing the probability of losing their jobs.”

Tax increases in New York City
On top of this, he said, “People in New York are facing real property tax increases, state and city income tax increases. Both the city and the state face incredible budget deficits, the biggest in a generation. People want the economy to get going again to deal with all those issues.”

So is this a good time for an increase in federal taxes?

“That would be a real problem,” McMahon replied, “People would be very upset about that — given all the other tax increases we’re facing right now.”

Even if the tax increases were limited to those earning more than $250,000 a year?

“The problem with that is in my district couples, two working people, can make close to $250,000 and still be part of a very hard working middle class. So there’s a real suspicion about that proposal.”

McMahon also said he is skeptical about the proposed bailout of the Big Three automakers. He warned against supplying taxpayer aid to companies “that are not taking the steps to correct themselves.”

He added, “In any industry that is hanging on by its fingernails, both management and the workforce are going to have to take cuts in pay, cuts in benefits, to keep it going.”

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Conservative areas
Despite winning his election with 61 percent of the vote, McMahon said his district is not becoming more Democratic in character. “In my district, John McCain won, 52 percent to 48 percent. That’s in the city of New York. When people hear that, they’re pretty surprised. Staten Island and Brooklyn are still voting pretty conservatively.”

While the bailout that Congress passed in October was unpopular in many parts of the country, it is "less unpopular” in McMahon’s district, he said, “because Wall Street is so much a part of our lives, so many people work on Wall Street. Generally people were in favor of government action to help out, but people are starting to second guess. They’re wondering what the heck was done. Credit is not being loosened up. People are not seeing the real results of what happened.”

Pelosi will have more than 255 members in her caucus as a result of the election, which grew the Democratic advantage by at least 20 seats. The margin over Republicans is large enough that Pelosi will be able to pass legislation without the support of some newly elected members of Congress, such as Bright and McMahon. She can give them a free pass to vote “no” on some sensitive issues, such as tax hikes or gay rights.

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