Obama’s Call for More Revenue Next Year Angers GOP Senators
“Revenues have to be part of the equation in turning off the sequester, as well as spending cuts,” Obama said.
Immediate reaction from Republicans to the president’s demand for even more revenue, as well as his shots at Congress, was sharp.
Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., took to the Senate floor to say Obama might have alienated Republicans who were tentatively ready to support the current cliff deal, which would push decisions on the sequester and other budget issues to the new year. “I think he’s lost numbers of votes with what he did. He didn’t lose mine, I’m not like that,” Corker said.
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said the president’s remarks were a “cheerleading, ridiculing of Republicans exercise.”
He added, “I have to wonder, and I think the American people have to wonder, whether the president really wants this issue resolved or is it to his short-term political benefit for us to go over the cliff.”
McCain also noted that he believes the president’s statement “clearly will antagonize members of the House.”
But Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., focused instead on getting a deal he said was in hand on the tax side of the cliff. He said lawmakers should move ahead and set aside the sequester and other issues for another day.
And while Obama’s comments caught Republicans by surprise, at least substantively they were largely consistent with previous statements he has made about his continued desire to put together a large, balanced deal to reduce the deficit, even if it has to be done in separate pieces.”