House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) said Wednesday that President Obama had gone “into full campaign mode” after calling for tax increases for the wealthy in a bid to energize the Democratic base.
“Unfortunately what we’ve seen now is the president has made a decision that he’s going to go into full campaign mode now 14 months before the election,” Cantor told reporters after a GOP conference meeting Wednesday. “And that’s fine, that’s his decision. But what he’s going to find when he goes traveling out to Republican districts across the country is he’ll learn that people don’t want their taxes raised.”
{mosads}Cantor’s comments are a further indication that after returning to Washington striking conciliatory notes, leaders in both parties have retrenched, dimming hopes for quick passage of jobs legislation.
Obama has proposed a series of tax increases on high earners to fund his jobs plan and to reduce the nation’s long-term deficits. Cantor said the House GOP would still look to act on areas of agreement with the president, but he delivered a warning to Obama as he plans to campaign for his jobs plan across the country.
“And every time he goes to identify a bridge or another project that is yet not funded or is disrepair, he’s going to remind people that it is his stimulus that was unable to deliver the needed funds to address those projects,” Cantor said.
Obama is scheduled to visit the Brent Spence Bridge in Ohio on Thursday to make the case for his jobs bill and the infrastructure spending that is included in it. The bridge connects Cincinnati to Kentucky, and happens to be close to the congressional district of Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio). Transportation officials say the bridge is nearly obsolete and needs to be repaired or replaced.