At least one member of GOP leadership in Washington is willing to admit that extending the Bush tax cuts will increase deficits.
Appearing on MSNBC this morning, House Minority Whip Eric Cantor reiterated his support for renewing the Bush-era tax cuts for all income brackets, including high-income earners. But he was also forced to admit, with apparent reluctance, that doing so will balloon the deficit, at a time when deficits are the GOP’s supposed cause du jour.
“[I]f you have less revenues coming into the federal government, and more expenditures, what does that add up to? Certainly you’re gonna dig the hole deeper. But you also have to understand, if the priority is to get people back to work, is to start growing this economy again, uh, then you don’t wanna make it more expensive for job creators.”
Compare that to the views of the rest of GOP leadership.
“That there’s no evidence whatsoever that the Bush tax cuts actually diminished revenue,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell told TPMDC last month. “They increased revenue, because of the vibrancy of these tax cuts in the economy.”
In June, House Minority Leader John Boehner touched off his own case of deja voodoo “”We’ve seen over the last 30 years that lower marginal tax rates have led to a growing economy, more employment, and more people paying taxes,” Boehner said at a press conference. “And if you look at the revenue growth over those 30 years, you’ve got a prime example of what we’ve been talking about.”
Cantor’s Senate counterpart, Jon Kyl agrees with McConnell and Boehner.
Makes you wonder how long until Cantor has a change of heart.
[Ed. note: Revised since publication]
Brian Beutler
Brian Beutler is TPM's senior congressional reporter. Since 2009, he's led coverage of health care reform, Wall Street reform, taxes, the GOP budget, the government shutdown fight, and the debt limit fight. He can be reached at brian@talkingpointsmemo.com.
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