Of Congressional Delegation
All but Lankford VoteFor ‘Fiscal Cliff’ Bill

 

By CALVIN S. SCRIBNER
Special to the Chronicle

 

WASHINGTON—Every member of the Oklahoma congressional delegation voted for the so-called “fiscal cliff” bill except U.S. Rep. James Lankford (Rep., Okla.).
The House of Representatives voted late New Years night to send President Barack Obama legislation that is said will avoid going over a national “fiscal cliff” of middle-class tax increases and spending cuts.
The vote was the culmination of a struggle between the president and particularly Republican House leaders who have been negotiating since the general election to avoid the travesty.
The bill (an endorsement of a bill passed days ago by the U.S. Senate after the House had failed in its leadership’s negotiations with the president) passed 257-167 late Tuesday.
The Senate had passed its bill by an even larger margin:  89-8.
U.S. Sens. Jim Inhofe and Tom Coburn, the two Republicans from Oklahoma, voted for the measure.
U.S. Reps. Tom Lucas and John Sullivan (both Republicans), and Daniel Boren (a Democrat) voted for the measure in the House.
The vote was a hard-won political triumph for the president less than two months after he won reelection while calling for higher taxes on the wealthy.
Moments after the Tuesday vote, President Obama walked into the White House briefing room and declared, “Thanks to the votes of Republicans and Democrats in Congress, I will sign a law that raises taxes on the wealthiest 2 percent of Americans while preventing tax hikes that could have sent the economy back into recession.”
He spoke with Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. at his side, recognition of the former senator’s role as the lead Democratic negotiator in final compromise talks with Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (Rep., Ky.).
In addition to neutralizing middle-class tax increases and spending cuts taking effect with the new year, the legislation will raise tax rates on incomes over $400,000 for individuals and $450,000 for couples.
That, of course, was higher than the thresholds of $200,000 and $250,000 that President Obama campaigned for, but Republicans supported the bill at both ends of the U.S. Capitol.
In the end, Republicans who had demanded budget cuts before they would support Tuesday’s measure a day after the Senate had overwhelmingly approved it, retreated.
Prior to the vote, it was apparent that there was a split within the upper ranks of the Republican House leadership.
Speaker John Boehner (Rep., Ohio) voted in favor of the measure, but Majority Leader Eric Cantor (Rep., Va.) and Republican Whip Kevin McCarthy (Rep., Calif.) voted against it.

Speaker John A. Boehner and U.S. Rep. Eric Cantor, in the end, were divided on the so-called “fiscal cliff” bill championed by President Barack Obama.