Congressional Republicans will press for extending the so-called Bush tax cuts next week, House Speaker John Boehner said, days after the White House declared its opposition to even a temporary extension.
“Well, the House is going to act,” the Ohio Republican said in an interview aired Thursday on CNBC’s “The Kudlow Report.”
Boehner specifically said lawmakers would move to extend income tax rates, as well as those on capital gains and dividends, for another year.
“We’ll extend the current estate tax rates for one year,” he added.
Not part of the mix, however, were payroll-tax cuts.
On Wednesday, the White House insisted that President Barack will not extend the Bush-era tax cuts for wealthier Americans.
"President Obama has been clear about his position and it has not changed," White House press secretary told reporters. "We should not extend and he will not extend the ... Bush-era tax cuts for the wealthiest 2 percent of the American people."
Pressed directly on whether Obama would support a temporary extension, Carney said: "He will not. Could I be more clear?"
Boehner repeated his desire to “get rid of all the excess deductions and credits and carve-outs and nonsense” in both the corporate and personal tax code.
“We believe the only way we’re going to achieve real economic growth is, we’ve got to reform our tax plan and we’ve got to stop the regulatory nonsense coming out of Washington, D.C.,” he said.
The speaker said it was imperative that the tax rates are extended before July, especially as the crisis in Europe continues to fuel uncertainty.
“We need to take the uncertainty away because, in addition to all of that, we’ve got another increase of the debt ceiling staring us in the face at the end of the year,” he said, taking the opportunity to criticize Obama.
“The president’s policies have failed. As a result, he’s turned to the politics of envy and divide. Listen, the American people are going to vote with their wallets,” he said. “He has to make the election about everything else because he can’t run on his record.
“There’s nothing in the works. Nothing. The president’s been campaigning this whole time.”
Asked by host Larry Kudlow whether Republicans and Democrats would have another standoff that last time resulted in a credit downgrade for the federal government, Boehner avoided predicting a compromise.
“I was, last summer, willing to find common ground,” he said. “I didn’t expect the president to walk away from his principles, and I don’t think the president was expecting me to walk away from my principles. Having said that, the American people expect us to find enough common ground to address the problems in our country. There was a lot of common ground that was being discussed.”
Boehner also hailed the result of a recall election this week against Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, who survived the effort.
“What we need here in Washington are more leaders with more courage, the courage of their conviction to do what the American people want,” he said. “I’ve always believed that, while there are some really tough things that we have to do, if we do them correctly, the American people will reward us for our courage.”
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