House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) touted “common ground” measures to spur job creation in the GOP weekly address on Saturday.
The California lawmaker – a former small business owner – took to the airwaves promoting several areas in which he says there is bipartisan agreement.
“By finding ways to support small business and promote entrepreneurship, we can rev up our economy and grow the jobs we need," he said. "And this shouldn’t be an exercise of partisan gamesmanship or credit-claiming."
Noting that the Congress approved three trade deals for the president’s signature last week, McCarthy says that there are other ways in which Republicans can work with President Obama and Democrats.
He cited a measure that the House will vote on later this month related to IRS withholding rules as an area for potential agreement.
“Another area of common ground is fixing something the IRS calls ‘the three percent withholding tax.’ ... It’s a mandate on small businesses that lets the federal government automatically withhold three percent of payments to companies that contract with the federal government,” McCarthy explained.
He also said that Congress was focused on removing “unnecessary regulations on small businesses, including those that have been handed down as far back as the Great Depression, well before Twitter and Facebook.”
McCarthy made a concerted effort to demonstrate that House Republicans were trying to work with the White House to find areas of agreement on job creation measures.
“That’s why when President Obama expressed a willingness to work on job creation, we looked at our own plan and outlined specific opportunities for both parties to come together,” McCarthy said.
Obama in his own weekly address said that he was also pushing for bipartisan action to spur the economy but that Republicans were blocking proposals.
"Rather than listen to you and put folks back to work, Republicans in the House spent the past couple days picking partisan ideological fights," Obama said. "They’re seeing if they can roll back clean air and water protections. They’re stirring up fights over a woman’s right to make her own health care choices."
McCarthy, the No. 3 ranking House GOP lawmaker blamed the Democratic-controlled Senate for failing to move on the House-passed measures, and implored Obama to become engaged in the fight on Capitol Hill.
“All told, the House has passed more than a dozen bills as part of our plan to get Americans working again. Unfortunately, the Democratic-led Senate has failed to vote on them. … The President needs to get off the sidelines and get involved. The President needs to come off the campaign trail and get to work,” McCarthy stated.
