Hoyer: Democrats will stop GOP tax hike

“It is the consequences of Republican action in ’01 and ’03 that would raise people’s taxes,” he told reporters. “We’re going to absolutely make sure that does not happen.” 

Republicans in 2001 and 2003 controlled Congress and the White House when the tax cuts were enacted. Hoyer said the decision to make them temporary was because of budgetary reasons.

“They did it for budgetary reasons so they could pretend that their bill cost less,” he said. 

While Hoyer supports extending the Bush tax cuts that benefit just the middle-class, he suggested that he could not rule out continuing all the tax breaks since some within his Caucus would like to extend them. 

“People keep talking about it, so I guess it’s [on the table],” he said, adding, “We’re not for that.”