34 Back Coburn Ethanol Amendment, But It Fails

From The Hill ~ Thirty-four Senate Republicans voted Tuesday to advance a proposal eliminating a $6 billion ethanol tax break, which one GOP leader said struck a blow against the Taxpayer Protection Pledge.

But the measure fell 20 votes short, 40-59, as most Democrats voted against proceeding.

The vote came on an amendment sponsored by Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) to eliminate a 45-cent tax break given to refiners for every gallon of ethanol they blend with gasoline. The proposal did not offset the cost of the increase, an apparent violation of Americans for Tax Reform’s (ATR) tax pledge requiring signatories to oppose “any net reduction or elimination of deductions and credits, unless matched dollar for dollar by further reducing tax rates.”

The Joint Committee on Taxation estimated Tuesday that Coburn’s amendment would raise $2.4 billion in tax revenue over the rest of this year.

Tuesday’s vote was significant because critics of the pledge claim it is getting in the way of a possible bipartisan deal on cutting spending while simultaneously raising the nation’s debt ceiling.

All but seven Republicans in the Senate and six in the House have signed the ATR pledge. ATR President Grover Norquist scrambled in recent days to deflect damage to the integrity of the pledge by winning a promise from GOP leadership that it would push for a second amendment, sponsored by Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.), that would offset the higher tax burden of Coburn’s proposal.

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