Politics

McConnell calls for ‘specific proposal’ from Obama on fiscal cliff negotiations

Alexis Levinson Political Reporter
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Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell pushed back on President Barack Obama’s proposal of a tax increase on Friday, and called for more specificity from the president as negotiations to avert the fiscal cliff continue.

Following Obama’s press conference earlier in the day, McConnell lauded the president’s “focus on jobs and growth and … call for consensus,” but cautioned that “there is no consensus on raising tax rates.”

“While I appreciate and share the president’s desire to put the election behind us, the fact is we still have yet to hear an actual plan from the president for addressing the great economic challenges we face,” McConnell said in a statement. “What’s needed now is a realistic and specific proposal from the president that can actually pass the Congress.”

“For the last two years, the president avoided outlining these kinds of realistic solutions. Now that the election is over, the American people expect a plan that reduces spending, reforms the entitlement system, and puts us on a path to ending our chronic annual deficits —without harming an already fragile economy,” McConnell said.

McConnell voiced his opposition to raising taxes — something that Speaker of the House John Boehner suggested Wednesday should be on the table, in the form of closing loopholes in the tax code — in a statement Thursday. (RELATED: Louisiana congressman rebukes Boehner for making promises to media on fiscal cliff)

“One issue I’ve never been conflicted about is taxes. I wasn’t sent to Washington to raise anybody’s taxes to pay for more wasteful spending and this election doesn’t change my principles. This election was a disappointment, without doubt, but let’s be clear about something: the House is still run by Republicans, and Republicans still maintain a robust minority in the Senate,” McConnell said, in the statement given to Breitbart. “I know some people out there think Tuesday’s results mean Republicans in Washington are now going to roll over and agree to Democrat demands that we hike tax rates before the end of the year. I’m here to tell them there is no truth to that notion whatsoever.”

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Alexis Levinson