Sen. McConnell Expresses Opposition To Tax Rate Hikes

Update 2:210 PM - McConnell Calls on President to Offer ‘Realistic and Specific’ Economic Proposal
"While I appreciate and share the President’s desire to put the election behind us, the fact is we still have yet to hear an actual plan from the President for addressing the great economic challenges we face. What’s needed now is a realistic and specific proposal from the President that can actually pass the Congress."

LOUISVILLE – U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell released the following statement today regarding America’s looming fiscal cliff and the need for a specific proposal from the President to resolve it:

“I was glad to hear the President’s focus on jobs and growth and his call for consensus. But there is no consensus on raising tax rates, which would undermine the jobs and growth we all believe are important to our economy. While I appreciate and share the President’s desire to put the election behind us, the fact is we still have yet to hear an actual plan from the President for addressing the great economic challenges we face. What’s needed now is a realistic and specific proposal from the President that can actually pass the Congress. For the last two years, the President avoided outlining these kinds of realistic solutions. Now that the election is over, the American people expect a plan that reduces spending, reforms the entitlement system, and puts us on a path to ending our chronic annual deficits—without harming an already fragile economy. While the Speaker and Republicans in Congress have sought common ground by calling for pro-growth tax reform without raising tax rates, we have yet to hear from Democrats on spending and entitlement reform. Every one of us wants to help the American people by helping the economy grow, and Republicans are eager to hear the President’s proposals on this and many other pressing issues going forward. The President has a duty to lead. We implore him again to do so.”

According to The Washington Post, President Obama is expected to speak this afternoon about the fiscal cliff, but “Obama is not planning to release a new plan.” It’s unclear why the president doesn’t seem to want to take the lead in proposing a new plan to deal with the rapidly approaching fiscal cliff, even with some Democrats in Congress calling on him to do that.

In a statement to Breitbart News today, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell laid out his position on dealing with tax rates that expire at the end of the year: “One issue I’ve never been conflicted about is taxes. I wasn’t sent to Washington to raise anybody’s taxes to pay for more wasteful spending and this election doesn’t change my principles. This election was a disappointment, without doubt, but let’s be clear about something: the House is still run by Republicans, and Republicans still maintain a robust minority in the Senate. I know some people out there think Tuesday’s results mean Republicans in Washington are now going to roll over and agree to Democrat demands that we hike tax rates before the end of the year. I’m here to tell them there is no truth to that notion whatsoever.”

The Wall Street Journal reports, “Economists from the Congressional Budget Office detailed new warnings of an economy speeding toward a so-called fiscal cliff created by a combination of government spending cuts and tax increases set to take effect Jan. 1. . . . The CBO on Thursday detailed its view that if Washington policy makers don't act before the end of the year, the economy would contract by 0.5% in 2013. The unemployment rate would jump from 7.9% to 9.1% by the end of 2013, according to the CBO—a nonpartisan arm of Congress.”

Clearly, something must be done to prevent the nation from plunging over the fiscal cliff. But with the economy continuing to struggle, now is not the time to raise taxes. Will President Obama present a better plan today?

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