Ex-NY Gov. Pataki: We Have to Undo ‘Spending Binge’

Former New York Gov. George Pataki says he believes there will be a deal to raise the debt ceiling, but he hopes other Republicans “hold tough” on taxes. Pataki also said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” today that the issue is not raising taxes on those who want to create jobs, but “we have to undo the massive spending binge that we’ve seen in the last two and a half years.

“I think the president needs a deal — he can’t have a government shutdown, he can’t have the country threatening default,” Pataki said. “The Republicans should stick to their guns. I think we can get a lot of entitlement reform, spending reductions, and take a major step forward.”

President Barack Obama said he will convene another round of talks with House Speaker John Boehner, the top U.S. Republican, and other lawmakers Sunday, hoping to begin “the hard bargaining that's necessary to get a deal done.”

Pataki also said that repealing the Bush tax cuts would amount to a tax increase — a position that other Republicans also hold. Democrats counter that it is not an increase as the rates would revert to what they were before the cuts.

“I think it’s clearly a tax increase,” Pataki said. “Let’s see if the government can get its act together and cut its spending to within its means. If that happened, I think we’d see the growth we need to create those jobs. They’re very much related — debt and jobs.”