Cantor says no to jobs bill spending
Washington (CNN) - House Majority Leader Eric Cantor continued to reach out to work with President Obama on his jobs bill Monday, but emphasized that Republicans are focused on items they support in the plan like the tax breaks and will oppose the administration's request for new federal spending for infrastructure projects.
"Anything that is akin to the stimulus bill is not going to be acceptable to the American people," House Majority Leader Eric Cantor said.
On Monday, Sept. 12th, CNN will broadcast the "Tea Party Republican Debate," live from Tampa, Florida at 8 p.m. ET. Follow all the issues and campaign news leading up to the debate on CNNPolitics.com and @cnnpolitics on Twitter.
The number-two House Republican argued that the 2009 stimulus that aimed money at boosting public sector jobs didn't work and instead the GOP wants to target aid to small businesses.
"The fact is we don't have the money and we've got to prioritize and right now it's about getting people back to work," Cantor said.
In addition to throwing cold water on more federal spending to rebuild schools and roads, Republicans pushed back at the president's proposal to limit tax deductions on high end wage earners and close several tax loopholes as the way to pay for his $447 billion jobs package.
"I sure hope that the president is not suggesting that we pay for his proposals with a massive tax increase at the end of 2012 on the job creators that we're actually counting on to reduce unemployment," Cantor said at his weekly session with reporters on Capitol Hill Monday.
House Speaker John Boehner's spokesman also said the White House's proposal to pay for the $447 billion jobs bill was unacceptable.
"It would be fair to say this tax increase on job creators is the kind of proposal both parties have opposed in the past," Michael Steel said in a written statement.
But Steel added Republicans want to find another way to pay for it, "We remain eager to work together on ways to support job growth, but this proposal doesn't appear to have been offered in that bipartisan spirit."
Cantor cited tax credits for employers, reforming aid for the jobless, and passage of the three pending trade deals as areas he sees as ripe for bipartisanship. While he agreed that infrastructure projects were worthy of focus, he said Congress should not be adding new money, but instead streamlining the process for getting current resources to state and local governments.
He repeated his criticism that the president's repeated "pass my bill" message was not sitting well with Republicans.
"I do not think the president's all or nothing approach is something that is constructive," Cantor told reporters, adding, "let's not allow the things his bill that we disagree with to get in the way of producing some results."
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Obama has no clue! He is in over his head and has started grabbing straws. The bad part is America is paying for his inaptness.
This fool would rather throw the elderly and the poor to the curb by eliminating Medicare and Social Security. He is a Marxist hack.
He looks older but he must be around 6 years old. Because, if you don't play by his rules he's taking his marbles and going home.
Hello Eric - you there? American's want thsi jobs bill passed and passed quickly. Your hyper-ventilating about not taxing the wealthy is getting real old, real fast. Virigina, next time this blowhard is up for election, put him in the unemployment line! America can't afford anyone who has sold out to Wall Street, bankers and Insurance Companies to the detriment of Main Street, the poor and the destitute.
Hey, CNN. I thought you're supposed to be unbiased? Why all of the Obama election advertisements all over your pages? This is supposed to be a news site. Get rid of the politcal advertisements, please!
Another words, liberals go ahead and pout all you want but we are not throwing any more good money after bad like Obama's other spending. This would be just another stimulus and it did not work the first time. This was nothing new and different just more spending. Obama had two years of doing all he wanted and now thank GOD we have divided Government becasue without we would be Greece sooner than later.
The do nothing congress of 2011.....I hope Americans are satisfied w/ the TeaPartyGOP.......They will continue to do nothing until, jANUARY 2013....by then things WILL be much worst.
@ CTYank, you used words taht are too big for Cantor and the rest of the Republicans and Tea Baggers to understand. Please rephrase into their language. You may to to take an Eublican/Eueabagger language class.
Note: This is a sarcastic statement.
So Cantor and the GOP are choosing loopholes for big oil companies over hiring teachers? Will that fly with voters?
I'm really starting to hate these guys and I am someone who does not believe in hate. But it for sure is party before country with them and that is exactly opposite of what they were elected to do.
"But the money is not there."
That's because for many decades now we've been giving it all to the already wealthy and corporations. It's time to take it back. It's that simple. They are currently sitting on record amounts of capital after making record profits all throughout the recession and they are doing NOTHING with it. They don't need more free net profits and increased profit margins without any concomitant investment in their growth, expansion, R&D, and employment. Increasing their profit margins without them having to compete or expand or build the better mouse trap and WITHOUT THE CONCURRENT INCREASE IN DEMAND THAT WOULD JUSTIFY IT DOES NOTHING TO ENCOURAGE JOB GROWTH. It simply results in them shrugging their shoulders, enjoying that they didn't have to work to suddenly have a larger bottom line and then pocketing, hoarding and consolidating all the extra added wealth for gambling on Wall Street.
Why do these clowns act like they speak for the American people when they only speak for their special interest people. It doesn't sound like Mr. Cantor got the message after the debt ceiling debacle and he keeps pushing this "I speak for the American People" premis when he absolutely, positively doesn't. Maybe if he shut-up and stopped postulating to promote his own self centered ideology he might get it right.
Cantor stop trying to speak for me. I'm an American person.
I'm for ending the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy, I can afford it. I'm for ending corporate welfare. My monikor holds true. GOP loves Koch and hates the Middle Class.
I am one of the American People and Eric Cantor DOES NOT speak for me!
We have the money but it is funding 2 wars, building schools and roads in other countries. Ours infrastructure is crumblling. Cantor, stop playing games and running up my blood pressure. Republicans ran on jobs in 2010, where are the jobs. Pass the bill, we need people working. If people are working it helps our economy and they are paying taxes.
Saving Obama from himself and more importantly from wrecking the entire country is a full time jpb. Keep up the good work Cantor.
How predictable that Cantor would lie again about working with the President! He and the other Tea Partiers will never change their stripes. Of course, they'll go along with the tax cuts but not the infrastructure spending. Why do these Tea Partiers want to destroy our great country and bring the middle class down with it? What good is it to balance the federal budget if things are falling apart around us and people are losing jobs left & right? Makes absolutely NO SENSE!!!
Government job is to facilitate the business to create jobs. Obama doesn't know how to create jobs. He has neither run a business nor employed anybody. We know the result of Obama 878 billion stimulus. Taxing the hard working people to spoon-feed the teachers, unions etc is not job creation. It's call spread the hard earned money to teachers, unions, blacks and latins for their votes. He is basically trying to save his job.
I'm the Hope and change
Yes we can
We are the ones we have been waiting for
Spread the wealth around
"I do not think the president's all or nothing approach is something that is constructive," Cantor told reporters...
Kinda like you did with the debt ceiling huh Eric?
I love how the GOP keeps calling them "job creators" as companies continue to cut jobs (looking at you BOA).
I AM SHOCKED that this little dweeb would say that..............Cantor STOP SAYING THAT YOU KNOW WHAT THE AMERICAN PEOPLE WANT.....YOU DO NOT........You are the person that wanted about MORE spending cuts BEFORE helping people devastated by the Hurricane????? YOU SIR ARE THE PROBLEM THAT IS WASHINGTON
LET THE TRUTH BE TOLD.
After The 8 Years Of The Bush/Cheney Disaster, Now You Get Mad?
You didn't get mad when the Supreme Court stopped a legal recount and appointed a President.
You didn't get mad when Cheney allowed Energy company officials to dictate Energy policy and push us to invade Iraq .
You didn't get mad when a covert CIA operative got ousted.
You didn't get mad when the Patriot Act got passed.
You didn't get mad when we illegally invaded a country that posed no threat to us.
You didn't get mad when we spent over 800 billion (and counting) on said illegal war.
You didn't get mad when Bush borrowed more money from foreign sources than the previous 42 Presidents combined.
You didn't get mad when over 10 billion dollars in cash just disappeared in Iraq .
You didn't get mad when you found out we were torturing people.
You didn't get mad when Bush embraced trade and outsourcing policies that shipped 6 million American jobs out of the country.
You didn't get mad when the government was illegally wiretapping Americans.
You didn't get mad when we didn't catch Bin Laden.
You didn't get mad when Bush rang up 10 trillion dollars in combined budget and current account deficits.
You didn't get mad when you saw the horrible conditions at Walter Reed.
You didn't get mad when we let a major US city, New Orleans , drown.
You didn't get mad when we gave people who had more money than they could spend, the filthy rich, over a trillion dollars in tax breaks.
You didn't get mad with the worst 8 years of job creations in several decades.
You didn't get mad when over 200,000 US Citizens lost their lives because they had no health insurance.
You didn't get mad when lack of oversight and regulations from the Bush Administration caused US Citizens to lose 12 trillion dollars in investments, retirement, and home values.
You finally got mad when a black man was elected President and decided that people in America deserved the right to see a doctor if they are sick. Yes, illegal wars, lies, corruption, torture, job losses by the millions, stealing your tax dollars to make the rich richer, and the worst economic disaster since 1929 are all okay with you, but helping fellow Americans who are sick...Oh, Hell No!!
PS. This one definitely needs to be circulated just as a reminder.
When is the "news" media going to point out that all of the Republicans voted for the Ryan budget which included, wait for it....GETTING RID OF CORPORATE LOOPHOLES! Ryan's plan was to close the loopholes but lower the corporate tax rate from 35% to 25% and they all voted for it. Now that President Obama is proposing the exact same thing, it's suddenly no good. If this isn't transparent as to the Repub's real motive, then I don't know what is.
Does the GOP/Tea Party have another game plan other than saying NO to everything?
Obstruction is fun, throw this bum out of office.
You low life, Cantor. These are jobs that would put Americans back to work and get the USA back in shape in our roads, bridges etc. I hope you are defeated next election..............