” ‘Disappointing’ is an understatement,” Cantor said on the floor in a colloquy with House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.). Cantor was citing the jobs report for June that said only 18,000 private-sector jobs were created in that month, and that the unemployment rate increased to 9.2 percent.
“Just look at the jobs report today,” Cantor added. “I cannot fathom how anybody, how anyone thinks right now is a good time to raise taxes. Who thinks that raising taxes on individuals and small businesses can help create jobs?” [The Hill]
House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) will call on the deficit-reduction supercommittee to lay the foundation for an overhaul of the tax code in a speech to the Economic Club of Washington on Thursday. In an address timed as a response to President Obama’s jobs plan, Boehner plans to restate his opposition to tax increases either to pay for job-creation measures or to reduce the deficit, according to a preview circulated by his office. Yet the Speaker is expected to voice support for closing loopholes as part of broader tax reform, which could include eliminating tax breaks for oil companies and other industries. [