U.S. Rep. Scott Rigell, R-Virginia Beach, has joined a small but growing number of Capitol Hill Republicans saying new revenue must be part of the solution to Washington's ongoing budget impasse.
In a letter to GOP House colleagues this week, Rigell said breaking the no-tax-increase pledge drawn up by Grover Norquist's lobbying group, Americans for Tax Reform, is "a mathematical - and fiscally conservative - imperative."
Rigell originally signed the pledge, which has long been an article of faith for many Republican politicians. But he renounced it earlier this year and was comfortably re-elected to a second term in November.
In his letter to fellow House Republicans, Rigell said an analysis of budget data shows that without new tax revenue, "continuing deficit spending and escalating debt are inevitable."
Republicans "need to examine what it means to be a fiscal conservative," he wrote. "Surely, in addition to fighting for smaller government, it means paying for the size and scope of government for which we have voted."
Rigell has endorsed the budget proposal put forth by Republican House Speaker John Boehner in his negotiations with President Barack Obama over how to avert the "fiscal cliff" of automatic tax increases and spending reductions scheduled to take effect Jan. 1.
Boehner's proposal would raise $800 billion in new tax revenue over the next decade, not by raising rates - as Obama wants to do for the wealthiest Americans - but by eliminating unspecified tax loopholes.
In an interview Friday with The Virginian-Pilot, Rigell said his preferred method of doing that would be to cap deductions. He suggested a hypothetical cap of $50,000.
But in answer to a question, he acknowledged that would not be enough to close the budget gap. He did not explicitly rule out raising rates.
"I'm doing everything I can to make a data-driven, fact-based case," he said. "Take the emotion out of it. No talking points. Where do the data and sound fiscal principles lead us?
"I'm just telling my Republican colleagues, 'Look, we've got to vote for the level of revenue to, at a minimum, match the level of spending that we ourselves have authorized.'
"I keep making the point, and I think some people are listening."