The No. 3 leader in the House Republican hierarchy left no doubt that Republicans were fully committed to extending the Bush tax cuts for all wage-earners and not just some of them. Asked by Human Events whether Republicans in Congress were nervous about political repercussions from refusing to compromise on extending all of the Bush tax cuts and possibly costing 98 percent of taxpayers their tax cuts, House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) voiced no worry at all.
???I can see the American public upset with Washington as a whole for cutting another 710,000 jobs out of the economy when growth continues to slow,??? said McCarthy, who spoke to us at a press breakfast in Washington hosted by the Christian Science Monitor. ???We???ve had eleven recessions since World War II. This is one of the longest lasting recessions and I believe it is based upon the policies in Washington that extended it along. 1982 was a much deeper recession ... if you measure the growth out of ???82 compared to now, there were more than 14 million more jobs. Stimulus? What did it do for us????
Returning to Human Events' question, McCarthy told us: ???Two years ago, that same question rose to the American people. The makeup of Congress was a little different. Democrats controlled the House, too. 139 Democrats in the House voted to extend (all of the tax cuts). The president wrote in his signing that we should not raise taxes in a down economy. 86 of those Democrats still reside in the House. Are they going to flip flop and think something is different? Bill Clinton believes you should not raise taxes in a down economy. Ernst & Young, in an independent study, said 710,000 more jobs will be lost. If we???re serious about changing this economy and making America competitive yet, eliminate some of the uncertainty. You extend it and reform the entire tax code that unshackles us and lets us compete.???
Voicing confidence in the outcome of the tax battle, McCarthy predicted that ???the American public will be tired of continuing this short term and taking politics over people. If the president said two years ago ???this is wrong,??? then why is it right now? And if it???s right, did this comes from his business counsel? Well, no, because he hasn???t had time to meet with them because he???s had more than 100 fundraisers. I think that???s what the American people are tired of. They???re tired of the gimmicks, they???re tired of the process, just solve the problem and move on.???
