Although the tax agreement preventing the fiscal cliff has passed in both the House and Senate, Kentucky congressmen remain divided on the issue. In the Senate, minority leader Mitch McConnell who was heavily involved in the negotiations voted yes while small-government proponent Rand Paul voted no. Kentucky’s representatives in the House were also equally divided. Both Democrats Ben Chandler and John Yarmuth along with Republican Harold Rogers supported the tax increase on the wealthiest of Americans. Republicans Ed Whitfield, Brett Guthrie and Thomas Massie all voted against the measure.
From NPR: There are actually reasons to love the fiscal cliff. For one, it allows Congress to sell a tax increase as a tax cut. Want an explanation? Find it here.
Kentucky’s junior U.S. Senator Rand Paul says he’d prefer to keep tax rates the same, but he’d vote for a partial increase to avert the fiscal cliff. The republican hopes his party can compromise on cutting defense spending and democrats can compromise on entitlement reform to lower spending enough to prevent a tax increase overall. But, if he’s pushed to the edge of the fiscal cliff he says he’d vote for a partial tax increase although it isn’t ideal.
