Boehner to WH: No Tax Hike

Politico reports:

Do House Republican leaders want to put taxes on the table as they try to tackle the deficit?

House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) had been staking out slightly different stances on whether tax increases should be a part of the discussion on entitlement reform, with Boehner leaving a small window and Cantor taking a hard line.

When asked by George Stephanopoulos on ABC last week, Boehner said, “I’ll put everything on the table.”

“I think Washington has a spending problem,” Boehner said. “I don’t think it has a revenue problem. I’m not interested in raising taxes on the American people. But if— if it— if it takes leaving it on the table to have the conversation, I’ll have the conversation. It’s time to deal with these challenges.”

But on Tuesday Boehner seemed to firm up his stance in advance of President Barack Obama’s speech on the deficit at George Washington University Wednesday, calling tax increases a non-starter.

“(I)f the President begins the discussion by saying we must increase taxes on the American people – as his budget does - my response will be clear: tax increases are unacceptable and are a nonstarter,” Boehner said in a statement. “We don’t have deficits because Americans are taxed too little, we have deficits because Washington spends too much. And, at a time when the American people face skyrocketing prices at the pump, energy tax hikes are a particularly bad idea.”

A spokesman for Boehner, Michael Steel, added that the statement doesn’t preclude discussion.  “What Boehner said is that he’s willing to talk to anyone to try to find common ground,” Steel said.

“Raising taxes will hurt our economy, and it certainly won’t be part of any common ground. We have a spending problem, not a revenue problem, and raising taxes is only going to make it harder for small businesses to create jobs in America.”