Boehner: Debt panel can start on major tax changes

September 15, 2011|David Espo, AP Special Correspondent

House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio talks about the economy during an address… (AP Photo/Evan Vucci )

House Speaker John Boehner urged Congress’ deficit “supercommittee’’ on Thursday to lay the groundwork for a broad overhaul of the U.S. tax code, rejecting Democrats’ talk of tax increases but leaving open the possibility the government’s take could rise as a result.

Tax increases “are not a viable option’’ for the committee, Boehner declared in a speech to the Washington Economic Club, ruling out many of the proposals that President Barack Obama is expected to forward to the 12-member panel next week, including some that are part of his major jobs proposal.

Boehner made his remarks as White House officials disclosed that Obama intends to travel to Cincinnati next week as he campaigns for public support of his $447 billion proposal to cut into the nation’s 9.1 percent unemployment rate. The political symbolism of the site was unmistakable — an overcrowded bridge that links Boehner’s Ohio with Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell’s Kentucky, a span the president has cited as an example of the repair work his jobs program would make possible.

Separately, White House spokesman Jay Carney said Obama will not recommend any budget savings from Social Security when he releases his recommendations to the deficit-cutting committee next week, despite the president signaling support for that idea in summertime debt-reduction talks with Boehner.

Carney declined to say what, if any, recommendations the president might make to find savings from Medicare.

The day’s events underscored the extent to which the committee of 12 lawmakers is likely to be guided by the views of the most senior leaders in both political parties as it tries to develop legislation to reduce deficits by $1.2 trillion or more over a decade.

The panel has almost unlimited authority to recommend changes in federal spending and taxes and is working against a deadline of Nov. 23. It held a closed-door meeting during the day, but officials declined to provide details of what was discussed.

In his speech, Boehner was alternately critical of Obama’s economic policies and somewhat conciliatory.

“Businesses are not going to hire someone for a $4,000 tax credit if government mandates impose long-term costs on them that significantly exceed the temporary credit,’’ he said, describing a portion of what the president asked Congress to approve in his jobs program.

“Let’s be honest with ourselves,’’ he said. “The president’s proposals are a poor substitute for the pro-growth policies that are needed to remove barriers to job creation in America.’’