GOP governors push for economic recovery without raising taxes

Republican governors meeting in Las Vegas on Thursday renewed criticism of President Barack Obama for pushing to raise taxes on the wealthy as a way to solve the nation's economic problems.

Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad was among the most vocal, telling a Republican Governors Association conference that GOP governors like himself and those in Indiana, Michigan and Wisconsin also inherited collapsing economies yet have been able to lead state recoveries without raising taxes.

Obama's home state of Illinois, meanwhile, remains in dire economic straits, led by a Democratic governor who raised taxes and still can't lift the state out of its economic crisis, Branstad said.

"We all inherited a fiscal disaster," Branstad said of the states in his region surrounding Illinois. "We didn't raise taxes. We reduced the size and cost of government."

Obama won the Nov. 6 election on the promise to protect the middle class and let expire Bush-era tax cuts for households making more than $250,000 a year income. The president and Congress are in negotiations to avoid a "fiscal" cliff that would result in automatic budget cuts and tax hikes involving $600 billion if no budget deal is made by Dec. 31. Also, a stop-gap compromise could be reached.

Branstad dismissed the notion Obama won the right with his re-election to raise taxes, arguing the country needs more job creation to spur the economy and that raising taxes could stifle growth.

"The president won the election, but it wasn't on the issues," the Iowa governor said, adding Obama had a better community-based ground game to win the White House, not better policies. "Class warfare may be an effective political tool, but it is not an economic policy that works."

U.S. Rep. Mike Pence, the governor-elect for Indiana, is playing a part in the lame-duck congressional session that is trying to resolve the fiscal crisis. He said he will not abandon his GOP principles, although he said he would not pre-judge any deal that might include higher revenues.

"I bring a very strong bias that no country ever taxed its way into prosperity," Pence said.

Pence and Branstad appeared together on a public panel dealing with consequences of the 2012 elections, including the need for states to start planning for Obama's health care law by setting up state insurance exchanges, entering partnerships with the federal government or letting the federal government take over.

Branstad and Pence are among GOP governors who are seeking more answers to how the health insurance exchanges work to protect their states from taking budget hits. The Republican governors said they feared states and taxpayers will be footing a higher health care bill in the end.

Pence said he and other GOP governors are holding out hope Obama will agree to provide federal block grants to states to run the Medicaid program for the poor instead of pushing states to expand the program while picking up the full costs for three years as part of the health care law.

"My hope would be we would see good faith on both sides," Pence said.

Some 25 GOP governors and two governor-elects attended the two-day annual conference at the Encore hotel-casino, where Republicans celebrated their electoral success at the state level. The GOP now has 30 governors compared with 19 for Democrats and one independent.

Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval is among the more popular GOP leaders running states where Obama won re-election as GOP nominee Mitt Romney failed to overcome the incumbent's stronger appeal with voters .

The GOP governors said that the Republican "brand" is strong at the state level and that they hoped to make gains in 2014 elections and strengthen the national party by demonstrating success.

"We call it making Indiana a state that works," Pence said at a news conference.

Sandoval didn't attend the meeting but was in Washington, D.C., to accept a Governing magazine award and visit with U.S. Sens. Harry Reid, D-Nev., and Dean Heller, R-Nev.

In Nevada, Sandoval has set up a state health exchange but has not yet decided whether to expand Nevada's Medicaid program, which could cost the state between $30 million to $50 million more a year.

Contact reporter Laura Myers at lmyers@ reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2919. Follow her on Twitter @lmyerslvrj.o $50 million more a year.