As the August 2nd deadline looms closer, the House hit another roadblock on the road to increase the federal debt limit. Representative Eric Cantor, the House majority leader, abandoned the negotiations after becoming overwhelmingly frustrated that the Democrats pushing for the increase believe a tax increase must coincide (Hulse).
"As it stands, the Democrats continue to insist that any deal must include tax increases," he said in a statement. "There is not support in the House for a tax increase, and I don't believe now is the time to raise taxes in light of our current economic situation. Regardless of the progress that has been made, the tax issue must be resolved before discussions can continue" (Hulse).
Cantor, a Virginia lawmaker and one of the only two Republicans participating in the talks led by Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., refused to attend the meeting on June 23rd, citing the reason as the Democrats continuing to press for part of the more than $2 trillion in savings to come from revenues such as phasing out tax deductions. Top Republicans said they would not give in to a Democratic push for new revenues as part of a compromise (Hulse). .
The other Republican attending the negotiations is Senator Jon Kyl of Arizona, who also announced that he would miss Thursday's meeting. Along with Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican leader, Kyl plans to increase the pressure on President Obama to become more involved in the push for a debt limit deal (Hulse).
"President Obama needs to decide between his goal of higher taxes, or a bipartisan plan to address our deficit," said McConnell and Kyl in a joint statement. "He can't have both. But we need to hear from him" (Hulse). .
Vice President Biden commented, "The goal of these talks was to report our findings back to our respective leaders. The next phase is in the hands of those leaders, who need to determine the scope of an agreement that can tackle the problem and attract bipartisan support.
