In an interview with NPR's Renee Montagne, Nancy Pelosi makes the case for giving everybody a tax cut on their first $250,000 of income, but reaffirms that House Democrats have been opposed to extending tax cuts that would only go to the top two percent. Pelosi says those upper-income tax cuts wouldn't create any jobs and would saddle our nation with an additional $700 billion in debt over the next decade -- $70 billion per year.
SPEAKER PELOSI: The position that we have which is the position that the President has put forth is that everybody should get a tax cut in our country. The problem comes when you give an additional tax cut to the wealthiest two percent that will heap $700 billion onto our children and our grandchildren.
RENEE MONTAGNE, NPR: What about, though, a temporary extension including a tax cut for those at the high end, a year, two years?
PELOSI: Well, our position in the House has been that we support the tax cut for the middle-class, for everyone, but not an additional tax cut at the high end. It’s too costly. It’s $700 billion. One year would be around $70 billion. That’s a lot of money to give a tax cut at the high end. And I remind you that those tax cuts have been in effect for a very long time, they did not create jobs.
Join the discussion in TomP's recommended diary, Speaker Pelosi: No Compromise on Bush Tax Cuts For the Rich.