U.S. Rep. Greg Walden said that House Democrats should not pass job-killing tax increases during the lame-duck session.
Walden, a Republican from Oregon, told CNN that tax cuts need to be extended because the worst thing to do during a recession is pass tax increases that could kill jobs and hurt small business owners.
CNN asked Walden if he would vote on a bill to support extending unemployment benefits to which he answered that he would if they were payed for. As to the topic of how things will be paid for and how to decrease the overall federal deficit Walden said that National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform has put forward some bold ideas in the past week in form of its final report. The proposed blueprint budget looks to slash the federal deficit by $828 billion by 2015.
At the same time, Walden acknowledged that he had not had time to fully read the report. He went on to say that when the Republicans take control of the house in November they will the opportunity to show how they will govern and that they are currently being shut out of some of these decisions.
According to The New York Times the report released by the commission was met with opposition form both the Democrats and the Republicans. Democrats disliked the idea of proposed reduction in health care and Social Security and the Republicans resisted tax increases for upper-income Americans.
To reach President Obama's goal of balancing the federal budget by 2015 the commission may force the president into deciding whether or not he will set aside his campaign promise not to raise federal taxes for 95 percent of Americans during his term.
Republicans promise to cut the budget soon after they take over the house but what is less clear is where the cuts will take place. There will likely be major political repercussions to any cuts they make.
Leave a comment