Boehner May Budge On Tax Cuts

After a week of drawing lines in the sand over the expiring Bush tax cuts, House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) hinted yesterday that he would be open to compromise.

Boehner remarked on CBS’s ‘Face The Nation’ that he would consider voting for a package of tax cuts for the middle class, even if it did not include relief for the wealthy.

“If the only option I have is to vote for some of those tax reductions. I’ll vote for them,” he said. The top House Republican added later, however, that allowing the cuts to expire for top earners would be “bad policy.”

The nuanced stance comes at the end of a week in which Boehner went indirectly toe to toe with President Barack Obama over what Congress should do when the series of tax breaks expires at the end of the year. Obama has made it clear that he wants Congress to extend the package for those making less than $250,000 per year, and last week rebuked Boehner’s proposal to freeze current tax rates for all Americans for at least two years.

Today, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs appeared on a series of morning talk shows to respond to Boehner’s comments.

“We welcome John Boehner’s change in position and support for the middle class tax cuts, but time will tell if his actions will be anything but continued support for the failed policies that got us into this mess.”

The President, who made stops in Cleveland and Milwaukee last week to promote new proposals aimed at creating jobs, is expected to make remarks about the economy in Northern Virginia this afternoon.

President Takes Swipes At GOP Over Economic Proposals

President Barack Obama spent a good portion of his eighth full press conference in office touting his administration’s efforts to turn the nation’s weak economy around.

Responding to questions from reporters, the president accused his White House predecessor, former President George W. Bush, of creating a years-long recession America has yet to climb out of. Obama said his decision in the past year to cut taxes for middle class Americans and spend billions on domestic programs saved the U.S. from succumbing to a depression.

The president did not mention Bush by name, but argued that the two-term Republican’s poor stewardship of the economy ignited the loss of hundreds of thousands of jobs in the months before Obama took office.

“We know where that led,” the president said of Bush’s eight years in office.

Mr. Obama touted his recent proposals to create jobs by spending even more on infrastructure. Though he would not refer to his new plan as a “stimulus” measure, he argued that last year’s Recovery Act has worked, albeit not as well as the administration had hoped. In perhaps a mini-battle over semantics, Obama told CBS’s Chip Reid his new proposal would be aimed at stimulating job growth.

Read more about today’s press conference on Twitter

In his opening remarks before taking questions, the president spoke with a firm voice, leveling blows at Republicans for disagreeing with him on not wanting to renew tax breaks for wealthy Americans, and imploring his political opponents to stop standing in the way of passing a small business jobs bill.

“If the Republican leadership is prepared to get serious about doing something for families that are hurting out there, I would love to talk to them,” he said.

Obama did, however, kindly acknowledge Ohio Senator George Voinovich (R), who earlier in the day said he would urge his GOP colleagues to vote ‘yes’ on the bill when Congress returns to session next week.