A group of 31 House Democrats facing tough reelection battles has already sent a letter to Speaker Pelosi urging the extension of current tax rates for all Americans — and FWIW, I’m hearing from the Republican leadership that the real number of Dems who oppose the tax hikes is even bigger — which is probably enough to explain why the Democratic leadership is hemming and hawing on whether they’ll hold a tax vote before November.

But lost in a debate so far centered on income tax rates is the question of what to do about capital-gains and dividend tax rates, which are also scheduled to increase next year. Here, an even larger group of Democrats is parting ways with the president:

[I]n a letter to the House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, 47 rank-and-file Democrats urged Congressional leaders to maintain lower tax rates on dividends and capital gains that are also due to expire on Dec. 31.
“Our fiscal policy should be one that maximizes economic growth and private sector job creation,” the lawmakers, led by Representative John Adler, Democrat of New Jersey, wrote.
“By keeping dividends and capital gains tax rates linked and low for everyone, we can help the private sector create jobs and allow seniors and middle class households to save and invest more,” the Democrats added in the letter.
[. . .]
In the letter to Ms. Pelosi, the 47 Democrats, warned that an increase in the tax rate on dividends would be felt most acutely by retirees living on fixed incomes. “Raising taxes on capital gains and dividends could discourage individuals and businesses from saving and investing,” they wrote. “We urge you to maintain the current tax rate for both dividend and long-term capital gains taxes.”

It is no surprise that Adler — a vulnerble New Jersey freshman who won a tight race in 2008 in an R+1 swing district, and who endorsed Barack Obama when most New Jersey Democrats were supporting Hillary Clinton — would be leading this fight.