House Democrats May Resist Obama on Tax-Cut Extension

House Democrats may help overrule President Barack Obama by voting to extend George W. Bush-era tax cuts on investment income beyond this year, the Associated Press reported.

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Rep. John Adler (D-N.J.) is leading a group of lawmakers who've sent a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi urging the extension of capital-gain and dividend tax rates, according to the wire service. Of the House Democrats, 47 have indicated support for the tax-cut extension, which would be sufficient for the Republican-led effort to win enough votes, the AP said.

The Bush-era tax cuts have been a point of contention between Obama, who wants to increase the tax rate on capital gains while supporting tax breaks for the middle-class and small businesses, and Republicans, who say ending the tax breaks would hamper the country's economic recovery. U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, when asked at a hearing last week about extending the cuts, was noncommittal.

Ending the tax cuts would discourage businesses from investing, while individuals would be disincentivized from saving, the House Democratic group wrote in the letter to Pelosi, according to the AP.