The U.S. House passed something called the Middle Class Tax Relief Act of 2010, but it might not be easy for Minnesotans to decipher what really happened in Thursday's largely symbolic vote over the Bush-era tax cuts, which expire at the end of this month.

Democrats called it a tax cut; Republicans called it a tax hike. First the tally. The state delegation split mostly along party lines in the 234-188 vote, with most Democrats voting for and most Republicans voting against. We say "most" because: 1) Blue Dog Democrat Collin Peterson was one of 20 Democrats who voted no; 2) Tea Party Republican Michele Bachmann, out due to the illness of a close friend, didn't vote. (But she sent out a press release stating she would have been a no vote). So what was the vote about? Depends on whom you ask. According to the office of Minnesota Republican Erik Paulsen, "the U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation … that will raise taxes on American families and small businesses beginning January 1, 2011." Not surprisingly, he voted no. But wait. Minnesota Democrat Tim Walz said he voted for H.R. 4853 because it "permanently extends the reduced individual income tax rates for all income under $200,000, heavily targeting middle-income workers." So how can the same measure be both a tax cut and a tax hike? One word: Spin. The Democratic spin is that the vast majority of Americans get to keep their current tax rates, including upper-income Americans who will continue to pay these lower rates on the portion of their income under $200,000 ($250,000 for joint filers). "By cutting taxes for the middle-class, we put money into the pockets of small businesses and hard-working families who will spend it at the local grocery store or on fixing up their homes," Walz said. The Republican spin is that a tax hike is a tax hike, even if it applies only to a small segment of the population. "Congressional Leadership has failed the American people," Paulsen said. "It's time to stop the gimmicks and political posturing and do what's best for small businesses, families and the economy. Raising taxes during this difficult economic time only serves to punish hard-working Americans." Democrats say extending tax cuts to the rich increases the deficit; Republicans say taxing the rich hurts the economy, which increases the deficit. The smart money in Washington says the Republicans are going to win this argument, because the threat of a GOP filibuster precludes a vote in the Senate along the lines of what the House did, and the Obama administration has been signaling it is looking for a compromise. One long-term compromise might come out of the president's debt commission, which says the government might be able to make a dent in the national debt by cutting tax rates while at the same time closing loopholes some now call "tax earmarks." But that idea is unlikely to get Congress out of the current tax impasse.