Mitch McConnell: There Will Be No More Tax Increases

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has a message to send to the White House. There will be no more increases on taxes as part of any deficit reduction or debt deal this session. In an interview with ABC’s This Week, McConnell let the White House know that the Republican party has bent far enough and will not be bending nay further.

McConnell said:

“[T]he tax issue is finished, over, completed. That’s behind us. Now the question is, what are we going to do about the biggest problem confronting our country and our future? And that’s our spending addiction. It’s time to confront it. The president surely knows that. I mean, he has mentioned it both publicly and privately. The time to confront it is now.”

The new Congress has a lot on its plate in regards to the American economy. They still have to worry about the $1 trillion in sequester-related cuts that will be hitting in two months without a deal, the raising of the debt ceiling. There is also a debate brewing about the funding the government for the remainder of the year. All of these debates sets up a serious debate about the economy between the Republicans and President Obama.

President Obama and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi have said that they will not put entitlement reform on the table unless there is a “balanced approach” meaning more tax increases.

Pelosi said to CBS’ Bob Schieffer:

“No, no, it is not. I mean, the president had said originally he wanted $1.6 trillion in revenue, he took it down to 1.2 as a compromise in this legislation. We get $620 billion dollars, very significant, high-end tax, changing the high-end tax rate to 39.6 percent, but that is not enough on the revenue side.”

Democrats want to add an additional $600 billion in tax revenues to any deal.

McConnell also ruled that out also, saying:

“I’m in favor of doing tax reform, but I think tax reform ought to be revenue-neutral as it was back during the Reagan years. We’ve resolved this issue. Look, we don’t have this problem because we tax too little. We have it because we spend way, way too much.”