America will fall off the proverbial fiscal cliff in less than four weeks unless Congressional Republicans and President Obama find common ground.
But Georgia Rep. and House Republican Policy Committee Chairman Tom Price says President Obama’s unwillingness to have serious negotiations is undermining the process and is a disservice to the American people. He says all the attention is focused on tax rates for the rich but he says the avalanche will involve much more than that.
“Look this is tax rates, it’s spending, it’s pro-growth policies, it’s the Alternative Minimum Tax, the Death Tax, capital gain, dividends, the sequester, all of the things related to health care with the ‘Doc Fix’ and the like. So this is huge,” said Price. “Sadly, the president has moved this into the direction of just politics, about two levels of tax rates on people that he believes are ‘too successful.'”
Price says American voters delivered a pretty clear message about bipartisan cooperation in November but the President wasn’t listening.
“The country wanted divided government. It didn’t want one-party government. But it wanted us to get back to work and solve these challenges,” said Price. “Sadly, he continues to be basically in campaign mode. That’s not leadership. That’s not the kind of leadership that will allow us to solve these challenges.”
The congressman increasingly fears President Obama doesn’t even want to strike a deal and that he may be content to fall off the cliff.
“In my most cynical moment, I step back and say, ‘I guess he does want the taxes to go up and he wants the spending to go down in the area of our national security,” said Price. “It really is destructive to the economy and that’s why we’re so concerned. This will be harmful to real people. This isn’t just some fictitious challenge out there. These are real people’s lives that are going to be effected in adverse ways with the destruction of jobs and decreased opportunity within our economy.”
Price is not only frustrated by what he perceives as Obama dictating the terms of any deal but that neither party seems ready to do what needs to be done most – cutting spending and reforming entitlements. He says even the most recent offer from House Speaker John Boehner doesn’t address the biggest issues.
“No. The proposal that’s currently on the table from our side actually just plugs the current challenge that we have, but it doesn’t solve the issue,” said Price. “The president has refused to even consider solving the issue. We spend about $3.5 trillion annually in this country. $2.5 trillion of that – ballpark figure – is Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security and interest on the debt. So unless we solve the challenges in those arenas by saving and strengthening and securing those programs, we will never get our fiscal house in order. What that means is that we will never get jobs created or a vibrant economy going.”
Rep. Price is not a fan of tax increases in any form but he does believe raising taxes on the wealthy through closing deductions would cause less damage to small businesses than a direct hike in marginal rates. In fact, Price says any marginal rate increases are out of the question for him personally and the vast majority of GOP members.
Another issue drawing fierce discussion on Capitol Hill is the decision of a House Republican steering committee to strip four conservatives from committee slots – two from the House Budget Committee and two from the House Financial Services Committee. Unnamed sources say the moves were made when the four members failed to obey party leaders in backing the 2011 debt ceiling deal that led to the fiscal cliff. Three of them also rejected the House GOP budget authored by Paul Ryan. Price says whatever motivated leaders to shake up the committees, it’s not a good thing for the party.
“In the big picture it’s probably not helpful,” said Price. “This is a time when unity of purpose is extremely important and I think that anytime we divide ourselves, fight amongst ourselves it’s not helpful,” said Price. “The folks on the left of the ideological spectrum, they are the ones standing in the way of real progress. It’s not the folks in the Republican Conference in the House of Representatives.”