House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy said President Barack Obama should “hold” the same position he took in 2009 on raising taxes in a struggling economy.
“I would expect the President to hold the same belief that he had in September of 2009 that any tax increases would hurt the economy and put business in a further hole — that does not do anything for hiring new people,” said McCarthy during a press conference at the Republican National Committee Headquarters on Tuesday.
“We’ll sit down. We’ll work with this President; any opportunity we have for job growth but the idea of more taxes, the idea that we’re going to punish business and continue to do things in the past that have failed will not continue.”
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On August 5, 2009, President Barack Obama said on MSNBC: “The last thing you want to do is raise taxes in the middle of a recession because that would just suck up — take more demand out of the economy and put business further in a hole.”
The White House has said President Obama’s $447 billion jobs plan will be paid for primarily by raising taxes on individuals earning more than $200,000 per year and on families making in excess of $250,000 per year, as well as by ending tax breaks for oil companies and closing other tax loopholes.
Obama is in Ohio today promoting the $25-billion school infrastructure modernization component of his plan.
“The President and Congress need to find common ground on how we help our economy. I’m glad the President’s coming to Ohio. I’m sure he’ll get a very warm Midwestern welcome in my home state,” said House Speaker John Boehner, a Ohio Republican.