Republican leader is malleable to closing tax loopholes

A top House Republican Wednesday signaled new flexibility on White House demands to close wasteful or ineffective tax loopholes as a way to bridge differences with President Barack Obama and Capitol Hill Democrats in talks on a plan to reduce the deficit and pave the way to increase the government’s borrowing authority.

“If the president wants to talk loopholes, we’ll be glad to talk loopholes,” said House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va. Cantor added that any revenues raised from closing such loopholes “should be coupled with offsetting tax cuts somewhere else.”

Cantor’s comments reflected important, if nuanced, flexibility for Republicans. His earlier position was that closing loopholes should wait for a comprehensive effort to reform the tax code.

Cantor declined to specify what tax cuts should be financed by any new loophole-related revenues, but he declined to rule out using them to pay for renewing expiring tax cuts like a popular credit for new research and development that’s popular with businesses.

The show of flexibility comes in advance of a White House meeting Thursday between Obama and top congressional leaders.