–House Minority Whip Hoyer: Still Need ‘Bowles-Simpson’ Kind of Deal
–Rep Hoyer: Have ‘Responsibility’ To Try To Avert Fiscal Cliff
–Hoyer: Sequestration Should Be Replaced By Comprehensive Deficit Plan
By John Shaw
WASHINGTON (MNI) – House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer said Wednesday
that the coming House votes on Republican and Democratic tax cut plans
are not likely to help the U.S. to avert the coming fiscal cliff.
At a briefing, Hoyer said a deficit reduction plan along the lines
of the Simpson-Bowles package should be enacted as a replacement to the
fiscal cliff.
He said lawmakers from both parties need to work on a
“comprehensive agreement on cuts, revenues and constraints.”
“You need to have both on the table,” he said, referring to
spending cuts and additional revenues.
Hoyer said passage of a bipartisan deficit reduction plan along the
lines of the Simpson-Bowles framework would help boost growth and cut
budget deficits.
Hoyer said he expects the House to vote Wednesday on a GOP plan to
renew all Bush era tax cuts for a year and then a Democratic plan to
extend Bush era tax cuts only for those families making $250,000 or
less.
He said the House will vote Thursday on a GOP plan to create an
expedited process to consider tax reform next year.
Hoyer said the coming across-the-board spending cuts, called
sequestration, should not be dropped without a replacement deficit
reduction package.
“Sequestration is a Republican product,” Hoyer said, charging the
GOP with intransigence in budget talks last year that led to the
sequestration process.
Hoyer said that policymakers should seek an accord to avert the
fiscal cliff at the end of the year.
“We have a responsibility to try” to avoid the fiscal cliff, Hoyer
said.
** MNI Washington Bureau: (202) 371-2121 **
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