–House Majority Leader: Talks Focusing On Spending Cuts Over 10 Years
–Rep. Cantor: Must Have Spending Cuts, Budget Reforms For Debt Hike
–Rep. Cantor: Repeats Only Tax Hikes Are Off The Table
–Rep. Ryan: ‘Don’t Want The Markets To Make This Decision For Us’

By John Shaw

WASHINGTON (MNI) – House Majority Leader Eric Cantor said Monday
that he believes the budget talks led by Vice President Biden are being
driven by a sense of “urgency” to reach an agreement on a large package
of spending cuts.

At a briefing, Cantor said he is “beginning to see the essence of
convergence on savings” in the budget talks hosted by the vice
president.

He said the three budget meetings that Biden is hosting this week
will hopefully “increase the momentum for some type of resolution.”

Cantor repeated that the debt ceiling increase legislation should
include both specific spending cuts and budget process changes. He
repeated that the spending savings should be in “trillions” over ten
years and should be at least as large as the increase in the debt
ceiling.

Cantor said it is imperative for the White House and Congress to
reach an agreement on a plan to “manage down the debt and deficit.”

“We don’t want the markets to make this decision for us,” Cantor
said.

Cantor said that from his perspective “everything is on the table
except for raising taxes.”

Cantor went out of his way to praise Biden, saying the talks he has
presided over have been “really significant and substantive.”

“I’ve been very impressed the way he has conducted these meetings,”
Cantor said.

Biden is scheduled to meet with lawmakers Tuesday, Wednesday and
Thursday this week.

The Biden talks are exploring a deficit reduction package that can
be developed to coincide with this summer’s vote on debt ceiling
legislation.

Biden is negotiating with Cantor, Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl,
Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Dan Inouye, Senate Finance
Committee Chairman Max Baucus, Assistant House Minority Leader Jim
Clyburn and Rep. Chris Van Hollen, the top Democrat on the House Budget
Committee.

The administration is represented by Biden, Treasury Secretary Tim
Geithner, White House budget director Jack Lew and the director of the
National Economic Council Gene Sperling.

House Speaker John Boehner has said it’s important to forge a
deficit reduction agreement by the end of June so a vote on debt ceiling
legislation can occur well before the August 2 deadline that Treasury
has set.

Kyl, the Senate Minority Whip, told reporters last week that
Republicans want a package of more than $2.4 trillion in savings over a
decade or more as a condition for increasing the debt ceiling by that
same amount.

Cantor said the Biden talks are focused on securing savings over
the ten year budget window, but added that additional savings beyond
this window would be very positive.

Cantor said that his strong preference is for “one debt ceiling
vote” this year that would increase the debt ceiling, rather than
considering a series of votes on smaller increases.

He said the Biden talks have been “very focused” on deficit
reduction, adding that the deliberations have not considered economic
stimulus ideas.

But Cantor said that meetings with his constituents last week in
Richmond, Virginia convinced him that the economy is now “very sick.”

“People are very worried about this economy,” he said.

** Market News International Washington Bureau: (202) 371-2121 **

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