Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Ct., represents one of the wealthiest states in the union, and he’s going to vote to extend all of the Bush tax cuts rather than let them all expire, as Senate Democratic leadership has discussed as a tactic to raise taxes on millionaires.
“My preference is to extend tax cuts because I think that fiscal cliff is so ominous and so potentially destructive that we need to avoid it,” Blumenthal told CNN. “But we also need to address the needs for cuts and spending. And I think a balanced approach is the optimal way to go and ultimately one that I think should attract a bipartisan coalition.”
In 2011, Connecticut ranked fourth in terms of the number of millionaires in the state. A 2010 Census Bureau report listed Connecticut as the third-wealthiest state in the country.
Blumenthal seems to be listening to Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, not his party leadership. “If the fiscal cliff is allowed to happen, it will certainly have major negative effects on the recovery,” Bernanke told the Senate yesterday.
Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., said earlier this week that Democrats were willing to go over the fiscal cliff — let all the Bush tax cuts expire, let the across-the-board spending cuts take place — in order to get a tax increase on the wealthy.
