Republican Whip Eric Cantor on the President's budget

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Cantor: We Need To Make The Tough Budget Choices (NBC's "Today," 3/25/09)

NBC's Ann Curry: "Do you trust the President when he says that he's going to tackle more fully this question of cutting the deficit once he's figured out a way to help this economy move forward?"

Rep. Cantor: "We've got to make the tough choices, just as people watching this show are trying to make every morning. They're getting ready to go drop off their kids at school and go to work. They're worried about their family finances. We've got to do the same thing here in Washington. Now, the bottom line is, the tough choices are not being made, and by amassing huge, trillions of dollars worth of debt on the backs of our children is not the way forward. It is not that we have to go an

d ramp up spending right now. We've got to address the critical problems facing the economy right now, and in order to do that, we've got to focus on the people who actually are out there that need to jump back into the game and create jobs."

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Cantor: The Democrats' Budget Is More About Debt Than Job Creation (C-SPAN's "Washington Journal" 3/25/09)

Rep. Cantor: "What I think that what ought to really be doing is number one focusing on job creation. From the very beginning when we took up the stimulus bill, we did the omnibus spending bill, the priority needs to be jobs. What I don't understand is if the priority is job sustainment and job creation, how in the world can you tax those who create jobs? This budget goes and does that. In fact, 50% of those who receive a tax hike are the employers, the small business people, who currently have maintained one in four jobs in this country. Overall, Peter, we know that 70% of the jobs in this country have come from the investments of small employers and small business people. We have to focus on the job creators first, that has to be our first priority. Frankly, I don't see that kind of commitment. And then if you look beyond that, what the financial markets have reacted to, I believe, globally, is the fact that this country continues to spend beyond its means. This budget and this President have now called for a budget that creates more debt than the other 43 presidents prior created in total. I've got three kids, Peter. They're going to be the ones who pay the debt on this. And we really ought not be thinking that the way back towards economy recovery is to pile debt on our children and grandchildren."

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