Nooga.com - Area Lawmakers Shelve Obama's Deficit Plan

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By James Harrison

After calling on House lawmakers to support a new plan aimed at eradicating up to $3 trillion from the national deficit over the next 10 years, President Barack Obama won't be gaining much support from Chattanooga area representatives.

Obama suggested ending Bush-era tax cuts and withdrawing troops from both Iraq and Afghanistan to help pay for his plan--along with $1.5 trillion in new taxes. The president also declared he would veto any deficit reduction proposal he received, which included cuts to Medicare but left out tax increases for the nation's top earners.

Rep. Chuck Fleischmann decried Obama's proposal in a statement, titled, "A new day, a new tax increase." The statement was quickly sent from Fleischmann's office within minutes of the plan being announced by the president on Monday morning.

"Last week, he proposed a new tax to pay for his jobs plan, and this week he is proposing a new tax to pay for his deficit plan," Fleischmann said. "This president has not met a tax increase he did not like. Tax increases have already been rejected by both parties, and that will not be changing."

In an emailed statement, Rep. Scott DesJarlais said while he was supportive of closing unfair tax loopholes--a component of Obama's proposal along with ending corporate tax breaks--the new plan would take an already bad situation and make it worse.

"President Obama's latest proposal is the same job-killing tax hikes that will do nothing to inspire confidence among small businesses and get them back to creating jobs," DesJarlais said. "With a federal deficit of over a trillion dollars, President Obama should focus on cutting spending to pay for his proposal, not raising taxes on small business owners."

Sen. Bob Corker later issued a brief statement expressing his dissatisfaction.

"I'm disappointed the president has once again chosen not to put forth a serious proposal," Corker said. "This will make it even more difficult for the deficit reduction committee to be successful."

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