Higher taxes needed to cut deficit
Tax increases and spending cuts will both be needed to spread the burden of bringing down US budget deficits to a sustainable level, House of Representatives Democratic leader Steny Hoyer said yesterday. Hoyer’s remarks frame a debate that is likely to pick up urgency as a bipartisan panel created by President Barack Obama considers ways to balance the budget. “It seems to me that the only solution that can win the support of both parties is a balanced approach: one that cuts some spending and raises some revenue while avoiding extremes in either direction,” Hoyer said in remarks prepared for delivery later in the day. “A balanced approach would spread the effects of change across American society,” Hoyer said.