Before heading over to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue today to participate in what seems like the millionth meeting between White House and Congressional leaders, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) dug his heels in the sand over the one thing he says is standing in the way of a deal to raise the nation’s debt limit.
Taxes. Or, more specifically, tax increases.
“We don’t believe that we ought to be raising taxes right now on people in this recession and in this economy and they do,” Cantor said, referring to President Obama and congressional Democrats.
Cantor used his entire briefing this afternoon to hammer home that point, stating that if Obama continues to insist on raising revenues to fill out a broader deficit reduction package, he won’t have any support from Republicans. Cantor added that the President and his team have offered a deal that includes in the neighborhood of $1 trillion in new revenues.
Yet, when asked later in the day about that number, an aide to House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) seemed perplexed, and said he didn’t know where the figure came from. Moreover, Boehner himself, in a short on-camera briefing that followed Cantor, said that he agrees with Obama that closing certain tax “loopholes” should at least be on the table as both sides look for ways to find savings beyond a series of already agreed-to long-term spending cuts.
“Nobody’s fond of loopholes,” Boehner’s aide explained to me afterwards.
Thus, while the official GOP line has become ‘no tax hikes,’ the leader of the Republican Party remains open to closing “loopholes,” which would presumably include sun-setting a tax break afforded to the owners of corporate jets, a favorite target of Obama’s when discussing the bigger issue. No doubt, some in the GOP and on the right consider such “loopholes” to be a form of corporate welfare. Yet, Republican leaders have argued for weeks now that ending a tax break is tantamount to raising taxes, and it goes without saying at this point that any deficit reduction deal that includes what the GOP views as a tax hike will be swiftly rejected by its rank-and-file members.
The popular narrative that has developed in recent days is that Boehner appears inclined to ditch his base and strike a deal with Obama on a “grand deal” to cut the deficit by $4 trillion over the next decade. Reports have indicated that this deal would include raising tax revenues. Though Cantor tried to dismiss those reports today, telling reporters that he and and the Speaker “are on the same page,” the fact that Boehner and Obama agree somewhat on taxes should suggest to many that the rumors are valid.
One area where Boehner and Cantor appear united is cutting entitlement spending. Both have called for Medicare and Medicaid cuts to be included in a deal to reduce the deficit, but say that Obama has refused to indulge those demands (The Huffington Post, meanwhile, reports today that Obama pitched raising the Medciare eligibility age from 65 to 67). It was, however, reported late last week that the President had offered up cuts to Social Security in an attempt to appeal to Republicans. But, led by House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), Democrats rallied immediately to rebuke that idea.
The Speaker and the GOP leader said Monday that they were dissatisfied with the President’s plan to reign in entitlement spending, and said that they were planning on discussing the issue further with Obama at today’s scheduled meeting at the White House.