July 06, 2011

FoxNews.com

Kyl: Republicans Agree to Revenue Increases in Deficit Talks; NOT tax increases…

AP

July 6: Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl of Ariz., center, accompanied by Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., left, and Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., speaks on Capitol Hill in Washington.

A top-ranking GOP Senator said Wednesday that Republicans have agreed to revenue increases as part of a deficit-reduction measure.

“If you add up all of the revenues that we Republicans have agreed to, it’s between $150 billion and $200 billion,” said Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., during a speech on the Senate floor.

Kyl said two potential ways to bring that revenue to the government would be through increasing fees for government services or selling government property.

“If the government sells something and gets revenue from it, that’s revenue,” Kyl said. “If there is a user fee of some kind and we want to raise that to keep up with the times, that’s revenue.”

A top House Republican Wednesday also signaled new flexibility on White House demands to close wasteful or ineffective tax loopholes as a way to bridge differences with President Obama and congressional Democrats in talks on a plan to reduce the deficit and pave the way to increase the government’s borrowing authority.

The administration says that if the borrowing authority is not increased by Aug. 2, the U.S. will face its first default ever, potentially throwing financial markets into turmoil, raising U.S. interest rates and threatening the economic recovery.

“If the president wants to talk loopholes, we’ll be glad to talk loopholes,” said House Republican Majority Leader Eric Cantor. Cantor added that any revenues raised from closing such loopholes “should be coupled with offsetting tax cuts somewhere else.”

Read More: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/07/06/house-republican-leader-flexible-in-deficit-talks/