GOP: head off 2011 tax hikes

WASHINGTON, Dec. 4 (UPI) -- Republicans say Congress continues to lurch along on the wrong course despite the voters' desire to immediately put the brakes on government spending.

In the GOP's radio and Internet response to President Obama's weekly address, Sen. Mark Kirk, R-Ill., called on the Democratic leaders of the lame-duck Congress to stand down from any new initiatives on taxes.

"These leaders should not raise taxes and risk another recession," Kirk said, who was elected to the Senate seat once held by the president. "Congress should reduce spending and prevent another tax hike on American taxpayers."

Kirk said the business community was in a quandary over the future direction of taxes and would not add jobs until certain taxes would not go up. "Congress should set its highest priority on preventing the massive tax hike currently scheduled to hit our economy on January 1."

Kirk did not specify any particular spending programs that should be reduced.