President Barack Obama in his interview with “60 Minutes” said that he hoped the unemployment rate being high wasn’t part of a “new normal”. Unfortunately for his administration, he has now presided over the 19th straight month of the statistic (aka, people’s lives) being over 9%.
Swiftly responding to the news were Virginia Republicans and soon-to-be Majority Leader Eric Cantor and incoming Congressman Robert Hurt.
Both claimed that stopping the uncertainty surrounding the extension of the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts would go a long way to getting businesses back on track in creating jobs.
“As today’s number proves, it is critical that the message coming out of Washington is one that fosters and promotes an environment of economic certainty that will allow small businesses, our true job creators, to regain the confidence necessary to start hiring and expanding,” said Hurt. “The last thing we need in these challenging economic times is a tax hike of any kind on families and small businesses.”
Hurt went on to say that as part of the incoming freshman class, he will follow through on his campaign promise to keep taxes low, reduce unnecessary government regulations, and rein in spending.
Cantor, though, went a step further.
Cantor, who was first elected to Congress in 2000, has seen the GOP not only in the minority, as it is now, but also when it was in the majority and had the opportunity once before to act on principle, as it soon will be.
“Political gimmicks — like yesterday’s vote in the lame-duck House – are emblematic of a dysfunctional Washington and a sad example of what millions of Americans profoundly rejected on election day. People want and deserve results, and Republicans will ensure – one way or the other – that no American has their taxes raised in this economic environment.
“The new Republican majority will be committed to changing the culture in Washington by cutting spending and stopping government overreach so our businesses can do what they do best – innovate, compete, and lead. We have been given a golden opportunity and we’re ready to start delivering results. We must return this country to the land of responsibility, opportunity and success.”
If rhetoric is any indicator of future action, things look promising in the House of Represntatives.
