Nancy Pelosi: No Fiscal Cliff Deal Without Tax Rate Hike for Wealthy - East Idaho News
News

Nancy Pelosi: No Fiscal Cliff Deal Without Tax Rate Hike for Wealthy

  Published at

111612 NancyPelosi?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1353110454593Official White House Photo by Pete Souza(WASHINGTON) — In an interview that will air in its entirety on Sunday’s This Week, House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi gave ABC’s Martha Raddatz a firm “no” when asked if a deal to avert the so-called “fiscal cliff” could exclude tax rate hikes on the wealthy. Pelosi, D-Calif., said that simply capping tax deductions for the wealthy would simply not suffice.

“Well, no…just to close loopholes is far too little money, if it’s — and it could be they have said they want it to be revenue-neutral,” Pelosi said. “If it’s going to bring in revenue, the president has been very clear that the higher income people have to pay their fair share.”

Pelosi’s position puts her directly at odds with GOP House Speaker John Boehner, who said tax rate hikes would be “unacceptable” during an interview with World News anchor Diane Sawyer earlier this month. Boehner has said he is open to rewriting the tax code and closing loopholes, which would result in additional revenue for the federal government, but has ruled out rate hikes for the wealthy.

Still, Pelosi seemed optimistic a deal could be cut after Friday’s first fiscal cliff summit between President Obama and top congressional leaders.

“The spirit at the table was one of everybody wants to make the best effort to get this done. Hopefully that is possible; hopefully it is possible by the middle of December so the confidence of the markets and most importantly the confidence of the consumers returns to infuse our economy with demand, which creates jobs,” Pelosi said.

The “fiscal cliff” refers to a series of tax hikes and spending cuts that are scheduled to go into effect in January.

Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio

SUBMIT A CORRECTION