Incoming House Majority Leader Rep. Eric Cantor, R-Va., said he wants to cut taxes to create more jobs for graduating college students at a Kennedy Political Union event Monday night.
Reps. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., and Cantor – the self-named “young guns” who are trying to get more Republican conservatives elected – plan to talk about this and more with President Barack Obama today.
“For all the youngsters here tonight, we want to make sure taxes don’t go up for employers,” Cantor said. “Many of them are going to be looking for jobs at the end of this year.”
Ryan said he is hopeful that Obama and Republicans will be able to work together.
“My hope is the President will say is ‘OK Republicans, I agree with you on points A, B and C, so let’s work on those things.’ And then on X, Y and Z he may not agree with us like health care,” Ryan said.
These three congressmen also want to repeal the current health care law in order to implement a new, cheaper one that includes all the current benefits, such as pre-existing conditions.
“We feel that we have take a position to address those problems, but done it in a way that can preserve what’s good about our system without bankrupting this country,” Cantor said.Cantor said he wanted to make health care more available due to the hard economic times and the low-income level of college students.
“We want to make sure that someone of your age has the ability to access affordable health care, whether it’s under your parents’ plan or elsewhere.” Cantor said.
Not only does the current cost of health care affect students today, but it can also influence their ability to be hired by future employers, Cantor said.
“Obamacare has racked up people’s premium costs and no one knows how much will be added to hiring someone,” he said.
McCarthy said the Republicans gained control of the House in the recent election due to too much spending.
“The Republicans didn’t win the majority, the Democrats got fired,” McCarthy said.
The “young guns” also talked about their view of immigration reform, specifically the DREAM Act, or the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act, which would help children of illegal immigrants become legal citizens if they go to college or join the military.
“To me, we can do this, but you got to do it in a methodical way that respects the rule of law, that respects the fact that this is an immigrant society, that also respects the policy of assimilation so that we can move forward and try to improve upon the American idea,” Ryan said.
pjones@theeagleonline.com
