The deficit commission suggested a tax structure that would feature a top tax rate of 28%, down from the 35% current top rate. That plan would also tax capital gains and dividends as ordinary income and convert the mortgage interest and charitable contribution deductions into limited credits.
Montana Senator Max Baucus, who voted against the fiscal commission's plan in part because he said it would hurt rural America, said in a statement yesterday that Congress should seek a balanced approach that looks at spending and revenues.
"We should begin with the assumption there will be at least some steps we have to take together that would not be the preference of each of us alone," said Baucus, chairman the Senate Finance Committee.
Obama set a late June deadline for reaching a bipartisan agreement on deficit reduction and said that Vice President Joseph Biden would lead talks starting in May.
Camp, who has proposed cutting the top individual and corporate rates to 25%, called Obama's rhetoric "unnecessary, unhelpful, unproductive" and too partisan.
"I stand ready to continue to work on these issues but I think much of the approach made it harder for us to do that," he said.