GOP seizes on expiring tax cuts as unemployment ticks up

Top Republicans urged Congress to extend all of the expiring Bush tax cuts as the August jobs report showed mixed results.

Numbers from the Labor Department released Friday indicated that unemployment ticked up to 9.6 percent but that the private sector added 67,000 new jobs, though the economy lost 54,000 overall.

Economists had expected less private-sector job growth, but the increase was not enough to lower the unemployment rate.

House GOP Leader John Boehner (Ohio) and GOP Whip Eric Cantor (Va.) both released statements criticizing Democrats' economic policies for failing to create enough jobs. But they also said that allowing the Bush tax cuts to expire at the end of the year will hinder the economic recovery.

“The nonpartisan Joint Committee on Taxation, Congress’s official tax scorekeeper, estimates that the tax hike endorsed by President Obama and his economic team will raise taxes on 50 percent of the small-business income in America," Boehner said. "We will not solve our fiscal challenges until we cut spending and have real economic growth — and we won’t have real economic growth if we keep raising taxes on small businesses."

Cantor added that "the very last thing these Americans need is thousands of dollars in new taxes, which will increase the chances of a double-dip recession."

"If the president is as focused as his administration on getting people back to work and removing uncertainty from America’s business climate, taking massive tax hikes out of the equation would be a welcome first step in the process," he said.

Leaders in Congress are still grappling over what to do with the tax provision, which is set to expire at the end of the year.

Republicans want all of the cuts extended, including those for individuals making $200,000 and families earning over $250,000. The White House supports extending the cuts for those outside the upper income brackets, but some other Democrats want either all the cuts extended or all of them eliminated.

Meanwhile, President Obama has slammed Senate Republicans repeatedly for blocking a small-business bill that includes tax cuts and increased lending. The GOP has said that Democrats failed to make the bill a priority before breaking for the August recess.