Rep. Diane Black (R-TN) indicated that she is willing to raise revenues through tax reform, stating that “I answer to my constituents, not to a pledge,” during an appearance on CNN early Wednesday. But Black didn’t expressly say she would support new revenues that weren’t matched by lowering tax rates, as required by Norquist’s pledge.
My constituents sent me here to do the job of balancing this budget. And I — you know, I answer to my constituents, not to a pledge. And my constituents certainly don’t want me to go to Washington to raise their taxes. But there are ways that we can balance this by increasing revenue, by pro-growth tax reform. So we know that there is a way to do that, without raising taxes.
Black indicated that pro-growth tax reform would mean ” something fairer, flatter and simpler, and a portion of that is to look at the deductions that right now really do benefit those in the upper income.”
