GOP thanks voters for more leverage

WASHINGTON, Dec. 18 (UPI) -- An extension of tax cuts was only possible because U.S. voters gave Republicans "more leverage" in Washington, Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, said Saturday.

In the weekly GOP radio and Internet address, Cornyn said the Nov. 2 midterm elections that gave Republicans a majority in the House and more Senate seats enabled his party to block Democrats from repealing tax cuts for the nation's wealthiest effective Jan. 1, The Hill newspaper reported.

"This bipartisan agreement was made possible because voters gave Republicans much more leverage at the negotiating table," he said. "Before Congress acted, every American taxpayer was looking at a much higher tax bill in just a few weeks.

Congressional Democrats had wanted to continue the tax cuts for most Americans but not for those making $200,000 a year or more or families making $250,000 or more.

Cornyn said it was a good week for Republicans not only for getting the $858 billion tax cut bill passed, but also by blocking the Democrats' $1.1 trillion omnibus federal spending bill, the report said.

While the senator claimed the defeated 1,924-page bill contained "reckless federal spending," several unrelated Republican earmarks were found in the huge bill, the newspaper said.