WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrats blocked a Senate vote Wednesday on President Barack Obama's plan to extend expiring tax cuts for a year for everyone but the highest-earning Americans, as the two parties maneuvered to try embarrassing each other on one of the election year's foremost issues.

The move came just two days after Obama urged Congress to vote on his proposal. Democrats plan to take up the president's proposal before Congress' August recess.

Without action by lawmakers, wide-ranging tax cuts enacted a decade ago under President George W. Bush will expire on New Year's Day, an outcome that economists say would be a blow to the already weak economy.

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