Freshman Democrat Kathy Dahlkemper -- who may be in trouble of losing her NW Pa congressional seat in November -- is staying out of the debate on the politically precarious Bush-era tax cuts.

The tax breaks will expire this year unless re-upped by Congress -- the Obama admistration wants them rescinded for the wealthy and extended for those making below $250,000, while Republicans want them extended for all, saying any tax increase is wrong in this economy and will hurt small business owners. Republicans are calling it the "biggest tax increase in history" while Democrats pitch it as a deficit-cutting maneuver that could take a big bite out of the $1.3 trillion deficit.

I was in Erie yesterday and asked the congresswoman where she stood, but as of right now she's not giving any indication:

There’s a lot of different proposals out there and we need to have a good debate about this and understand the ramifications of all those proposals, and then make the decison with all the information in front of me.

People say 'what are you going to do, what are you going to do,' but if you don’t have all the information in front of you, you should not make -- and I don’t think my constituents would want me to make -- a rash statement or decision on something.

Dahlkemper at press conference in Union City, Pa., Monday. McNulty iPhone photo.