Cantor urges GOP to resist tax hikes

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WASHINGTON, Aug. 8 (UPI) -- House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., is urging Republicans lawmakers to resist pressure to raise taxes following the U.S. credit rating downgrade.

Cantor wrote a letter to Republican House members in the wake of Standard & Poor's decision to lower the U.S. credit rating, The Hill reported Monday.

"Over the next several months, there will be tremendous pressure on Congress to prove that S&P's analysis of the inability of the political parties to bridge our differences is wrong," Cantor wrote Monday. "In short, there will be pressure to compromise on tax increases. We will be told that there is no other way forward. I respectfully disagree."

House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, reiterated Cantor's sentiments in a statement on Monday.

"Providing economic certainty and creating an environment in which businesses can invest and jobs can flourish must remain our number-one focus," Boehner said. "That's why raising taxes is simply the wrong approach."

Democrats blame Republicans for the downgrade, saying they created the debt crisis and then walked away from a bipartisan "grand bargain" that would have averted the lower credit score.