Sink backs extending tax cuts to wealthiest Americans

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Alex Sink parted ways with President Barack Obama and many other Democrats on Tuesday by calling for the continuation of federal tax cuts for wealthy Americans.

The federal tax cuts benefiting the wealthiest 2 percent of Americans are set to expire at the end of the year. Obama is asking Congress to end the breaks for couples with incomes exceeding $250,000, while making tax cuts for the middle class permanent. Republicans want to continue both tax breaks, which date back to President George W. Bush's administration.

Last Friday, GOP gubernatorial candidate Rick Scott accused Sink of siding with Obama on repealing the high-income tax breaks.

Not so, Sink said today. In a prepared statement, the Democrat accused Scott of "lying" about her position. "I support the extension of the Bush tax cuts, because to let them expire will hurt our ability to get people back to work. We need to do everything we can to get people back to work."

Scott's campaign fired back within a few hours, calling her position "hypocrisy" because she has campaigned with the president at times when he was arguing for repeal of the tax cuts for the wealthy. "Now, she can't run away fast enough from his tax policy."

Kyra Jennings, spokeswoman for Sink's campaign, responded, "Alex Sink supports the president's policies when they are good for Florida, and opposes them when they aren't good for our state."

Sink's statement comes after a holiday weekend heavy with airings of a new television advertisement from the state Republican Party that derisively labels Sink as a "liberal" ally of the president for supporting various policies of his administration.

The state Democratic Party responded today with its own ad, in which Sink criticizes Scott as focusing on Obama instead of state issues. Sink stresses noticeably centrist proposals in the ad, such as providing tax relief for small businesses.

Sink is adhering to a rule that many politicians learn the hard way during election season: When an opponent attacks, respond early, said Lance deHaven-Smith, a political scientist at Florida State University.

It is a lesson, he said, that Scott's former GOP primary rival Bill McCollum did not learn quickly enough.

He noted that Sink is advocating for an extension of the tax breaks, as opposed to making them permanent.

"I think she's trying to take a middle-ground position," he said. "Whether that's convincing to people is another issue."

Sink's comments followed the appearance of a New York Times op-ed in which Peter Orszag, former budget director for Obama, argued for extending all of the tax cuts until 2013, and then eliminating them. Obama has rejected Orszag's proposal, according to the Associated Press.