House Speaker John Boehner vowed tonight to protect corporate tax loopholes and the rich even if it means foregoing a massive $4 trillion deficit reduction deal that would take a significant chunk out of the $14.3 trillion national debt.
"Despite good-faith efforts to find common ground, the White House will not pursue a bigger debt reduction agreement without tax hikes," (R-Ohio) said in a statement. "I believe the best approach may be to focus on producing a smaller measure."
Foremost, the White House has said it wants to eliminate tax breaks for hugely profitable industries, rejecting the GOP philosophy of putting the burden of revenue-raising on the middle class.
Some in the administration readily admit that President Obama's decision to extend tax breaks for the rich last year has failed to create jobs, but instead inspired the GOP to seek more boodle for the corporations and the rich, the chief financiers of their party -- even amid a fiscal crisis that is killing Main Street Americans.
White House Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer argues that the majority of Americans want the wealthiest Americans and special interests to stop squeezing every extra penny out of the Middle Class to subsidize their opulent lifestyles.
"The President believes that solving our fiscal problems is an economic imperative. But in order to do that, we cannot ask the middle-class and seniors to bear all the burden of higher costs and budget cuts," Pfeiffer said in a statement issued this evening.
"Both parties have made real progress thus far, and to back off now will not only fail to solve our fiscal challenge, it will confirm the cynicism people have about politics in Washington," he added.
Boehner issued the statement on eve of crucial debt celling talks tomorrow at the White House. Obama hopes the Speaker will rethink his play and take a deal that will cut deeply into the federal deficit.
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