WASHINGTON (Reuters) ? A fiscally conservative Democrat who chairs the U.S. Senate's budget committee on Wednesday said he supports extending all of the tax cuts that expire this year, including for the wealthy.
"The general rule of thumb would be you'd not want to do tax increases ... until the recovery is on more solid ground," Senator Kent Conrad said in an interview with reporters outside the Senate chambers, adding he did not believe the recovery has come yet.
Conrad's comments are sympathetic with Republican arguments against raising taxes amid a fledgling economic recovery. They frame a debate gaining steam over whether stimulus to bolster the economy's recovery, or deficit reduction, should be the top policy priority.
Other Democrats are still sensitive to budget worries.
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, another fiscally conservative Democrat, earlier this month questioned whether the country could afford to extend the for the wealthier groups, citing the yawning budget deficit.
Lawmakers are mulling the renewal of tax cuts enacted in 2001 and 2003 under former president George W. Bush that expire at the end of this year. President Barack Obama and his Democratic allies in Congress want to extend the lower rates for individuals earning less than $200,000 or couples making less than $250,000.
The federal government has run deficits for several years, with the 2010 budget expected to come in more than $1 trillion in the red. The issue has stalled several spending bills in Congress, including extension of unemployment insurance now being debated in the Senate.
Conrad said that it will be tough to extend the top tax cuts, given worries about the deficit and because under budget rules, lawmakers must find offsetting revenue to pay for the lower rates for wealthier Americans.
But the North Dakota Democrat who also is on the Senate Finance Committee, said he thinks waiving so-called pay-go rules to extend the upper income rates should be considered.
"Pay-go is not just a line in the sand," he said. "There is a reason that you have a pay-go waiver, which requires 60 votes."
Democratic Senator Evan Bayh also recently questioned whether taxes should be raised on the wealthy, citing the economy.
