A top U.S. lawmaker says the Republican party may be willing to make a compromise on revenue increases, a key sticking point in negotiations to increase the U.S. borrowing limit.
House Majority Leader Eric Cantor said at a press conference Wednesday that Republicans would be willing to discuss closing some loopholes that give tax breaks to some corporations and wealthy Americans. But he said this would have to be offset by tax cuts elsewhere.
Using the social media site Twitter, Wednesday, President Barack Obama took a jab at Republicans for earlier refusing to consider tax changes in the debt negotiations. He said Republicans cannot threaten to force the U.S. to default on its loans to protect tax loopholes for the “very richest Americans.”
Tuesday, top Republican House Speaker John Boehner, expressed his party's more hard-line stance, saying any deal that includes tax hikes “cannot pass the House.”
Washington has run up a total debt of $14.3 trillion, the current legal borrowing limit. If the limit is not increased before August 2, the U.S. could default on some of its loans, deeply damaging its credit rating and reputation.
Opposition Republicans say they want to see drastic cuts in spending before they will agree to an increase. President Barack Obama and his Democratic party allies in Congress support sharp spending cuts, but want to also raise some taxes on wealthy Americans, oil companies and some others to help close the deficit.
Talks chaired by Vice President Joseph Biden broke down late last month some Republican lawmakers walked out of negotiations to protest raising taxes.
On Tuesday Mr. Obama invited the leaders of both major political parties to the White House for a Thursday meeting to continue negotiations on the issue.
U.S. Treasury officials have repeatedly warned of “catastrophic” economic consequences if Congress does not raise the so-called debt ceiling before August 2. After that date, the government will no longer be able to meet its financial obligations without borrowing additional money.
