Congressman Scott Rigell of Virginia Beach appeared on MSNBC today with Chuck Todd and stated that the country has a revenue problem.
“Historically, we’ve been at 18% … revenue as a percent of Gross Domestic Product. Right now, we’re at less than 15% (of GDP). That too is a problem. Any Republican that will not … confront this and discuss it head on is not dealing with reality,” he said during a floor speech on Nov. 14, which is probably what got him the invited onto one of the most liberal networks in the country.
However, Rigell steered clear of calling for tax increases and made the claim that economic growth is what can bring those revenues back in line with historical averages.
“The 3-4% delta (in revenue) that we are losing as a country (right now) — most and potentially all of it can be made up by the growth of our economy,” he said. “The grand irony of what’s coming out of the … White House and the Administration is that with the policies they are moving forward, we are regulating ourselves out of prosperity. … For example, the President made clear that all of the energy resources off the coast of Virginia, we can’t leverage those, Chuck. It’s not right. … It’s been projected that up to 1.2 million jobs could be created in (the energy) sector alone.”
Catch the entire interview on Rigell’s website [1].