Cantor Says Sequester Won't Be Applicable Come Thanksgiving

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) said Monday that there is no threat of a sequester as a result of failed negotiations by a 12-member panel tasked with cutting at least $1.2 trillion in savings by Nov. 23.  

“I don’t think a sequester will be applicable because I believe [the Joint Select Committee] will reach an agreement before the deadline,” Cantor told reporters during his weekly press conference.

Cantor tiptoed around an onslaught of questions focused on the deficit panel, saying that, having been a part of this summer’s Biden-led negotiations on raising the nation’s debt ceiling, he wanted to avoid adding pressure on the committee. 

“I want them to do their work without added pressure from me,” Cantor said.  

Although Cantor remains hopeful that a deal will be reached within the next 9 days, the substance coming from inside the “super committee” has indicated otherwise.  

The “breakthroughs” that resulted from Democratic concessions to slash entitlements and Republican proposals that put new revenues on the table were diminished before Congress broke for the holiday. 

Boehner: Americans Need Certainty, Not More Tax Increases

While addressing reporters at the Republican National Committee (RNC) Tuesday morning, Speaker of the House John Boehner insisted that Americans need certainty about what is going on in Washington for the economy to improve. 

On Monday, President Obama presented his American Jobs Act to Congress, which will provide jobs for Americans and be paid for by permanent tax increases. 

“As a former small businessman myself, I can tell you we have a different approach to creating jobs than our friends across the aisle,” Boehner told reporters.

Boehner then went on to explain how he spoke to thousands of people and employers over the August recess who were seeking greater clarification of legislation in Washington. 

“They want some certainty about what is happening in Washington, certainty about what the tax rates are going to be, certainty about what their healthcare costs and commitments are going to be and certainty about the regulatory onslaught that they are under, ” Boehner stated. “These are the kind of things that need to be addressed if we’re going to create the kind of environment where employers will feel comfortable in adding more employees to their company.”

Click here if you would like to see more pictures from today’s event

Republicans Issue Tax Day Warning Against Democrats' Spending Habits

By Antonia Aguilar - University of New Mexico / Talk Radio News Service

Republican leaders took tax day 2010 as an opportunity to issue a warning against the economic trajectory taken by Democrats.

“Americans are sending more and more of their hard earned money to Washington only to see it go to wasteful stimulus programs and a tax and spend agenda that is destroying American jobs,” said House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio).

Boehner argued out that the recently passed health care bill contains at least twenty taxes that fall back on employers.

House Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-Va.) noted that if spending continues at current levels, Americans could begin to feel it in their checkbooks for years to come.

“We see that we ought to stop the spending,” said Cantor. “We ought to stop the borrowing that will only bring on higher taxes and that will only make tax day 2011, 2012 and ... after more difficult on the American family.”