When President Obama gives his speech Wednesday afternoon on his plans to reduce the long-term budget deficit, he is expected to, among other things, call for the expiration of the Bush-era tax cuts for households with incomes over $250,000. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor disapproves.
“I am not in favor of raising taxes right now, period,” the Virginia Republican said Wednesday morning on MSNBC's Morning Joe. “The question is raising revenues.... And how are you going raise revenues? Are you just going to raise taxes through a magic wand, you’re going to produce more money? Or are you going to grow this economy?”
Cantor will be part of the bipartisan leadership meeting at the White House before Obama’s speech. Cantor said that the “gesture is appreciated” and that he hopes to hear specifics about such topics as how “to deal with entitlements.”
While Cantor admits that the tax system is broken, he said he is more in favor of reforming the tax code than raising rates. He said that when corporations exploit the system, it is the ultimate example of “crony capitalism,” and that it’s time to simplify the tax code and “get rid of special-interest loopholes.” But raising taxes is a nonstarter for him.
"It's ironic now that the president is going to give this speech today, while Americans are fast preparing their taxes for the next couple of days' deadline, that he would even think about proposing a tax increase," he said.
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