Debt Talks: House GOP Won't Budge on Taxes

The Hill reports:

House Republicans and President Obama had a “frank” but “productive” discussion at the White House Wednesday, according to Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio).

Boehner and other GOP leaders greeting the media after the one-hour meeting said they pushed Obama to agree to spending cuts equal to any increase in the nation’s borrowing limit that is approved by Congress.

The GOP has been making the demand for weeks. The White House has been pushing for Congress to hike the nation’s debt limit by $2.4 trillion, and the House on Tuesday rejected a measure to raise the ceiling without corresponding spending cuts.

On the issue of taxes, Republicans said they would not budge.

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) said that he has instructed his members to hold steady on preserving the Bush tax cuts for the middle class and more affluent taxpayers, saying “it's counterintuitive to believe you're going to raise taxes on certain entities and individuals you're expecting to create jobs.”

Cantor said the president pushed them on his theme of investment in the future, but Cantor said “to a lot of us that’s code for more Washington spending, and that's something we can't afford right now.”

Asked later by The Hill if Obama had signaled any willingness to bend on taxes, Cantor laughed before saying, “No.”

Republicans and the White House face an Aug. 2 deadline set by the Treasury Department to reach a deal on raising the debt ceiling. If the ceiling isn’t raised, the U.S. could default, and Treasury has warned of calamitous economic effects.