Cantor urges cooperation on jobs bill despite differences

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) expressed cautious optimism on Tuesday that congressional Republicans and the Obama administration can reach an agreement on job-creation policies. 

Cantor acknowledged the divide on issues in the $447 billion jobs bill that hit Capitol Hill on Monday, including the White House proposal to pay for the legislation by raising taxes on wealthy Americans and businesses. 

“There are big differences, but it’s time for us to set those aside and see if we can deliver results,” he said Tuesday during an economic discussion at the American Action Forum.

“Now is not the time to raise taxes on anybody if you want to grow the economy.”

President Obama is calling on Congress to immediately pass his jobs plan, saying it’s loaded with bipartisan ideas that should have adequate support on Capitol Hill. 

Republicans remain skeptical and began breaking out the bill into provisions that they could support with or without changes. 

The president’s “significant tax hikes aren’t that simple,” Cantor said, and the effects could mean taxes on charitable contributions and more expensive rates for states and municipalities to borrow money. 

The House leader also criticized Obama’s top campaign adviser, David Axelrod, who told ABC’s “Good Morning America” earlier Tuesday that the administration wouldn’t break up the package and turn it into an “a la carte menu.”

“It’s troubling, the message of all or nothing, take it or leave it,” Cantor said. 

“That’s not the way anything works and not the way Washington works. Been there done that.”

Cantor professed a willingness to embrace portions of the plan, with tweaks, including investing in infrastructure — although he doesn’t want any new money added into the mix — and unemployment programs that connect workers with job opportunities. 

“There’s a significant amount of stimulus spending in this proposal,” he said. After the “2009 stimulus failure why do we want to do something like that again?” 

He again pushed back on a proposed infrastructure bank, which has bipartisan support in the Senate, because it would be “akin to creating a Fannie [Mae] and Freddie [Mac] for roads and bridges.”

Cantor again urged the administration to provide regulatory relief for businesses, saying it’s the top Republican priority on the fall agenda.  

“The policies being promoted get in the way of entrepreneurs,” he said.  

He also has pressed for passage of three free-trade agreements — with Colombia, South Korea and Panama — as an area of consensus. The agreements are held up over scheduling of votes on a Trade Adjustment Assistance program bill that would provide training to workers who’ve lost their jobs because of foreign trade. 

Yet Cantor, who has started the post-summer session on a more conciliatory note, continued in the vein Tuesday. 

“I don’t believe we should allow areas of disagreement to get in the way of areas where we do agree,” he said.