{"id":2668,"date":"2010-08-25T02:11:30","date_gmt":"2010-08-25T09:11:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/?p=2668"},"modified":"2010-08-25T02:11:30","modified_gmt":"2010-08-25T09:11:30","slug":"debunking-boehners-five-point-plan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/2010\/08\/25\/debunking-boehners-five-point-plan\/","title":{"rendered":"Debunking Boehner’s Five Point Plan"},"content":{"rendered":"

John Boehner took a rare vacation from the tanning beds, the golf course, and the Washington bar scene to give what he called a major economic address.   If this is the best the Republicans have to offer we have reason to celebrate.<\/font><\/p>\n

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\"25-5point\"<\/a> Rep. John Boehner, the perpetually tanned House Minority leader, unveiled his plan to get the economy going today in a speech [Boner delinked] before the Cleveland City Club. Hold on to your job — if he becomes Speaker, things will get worse.<\/p>\n

Understandably, Boehner said not a word about the policies that led to the Great Recession<\/strong>. In fact, he said not a word about the economic collapse. Instead, he argued only that America’s economy was in trouble because business was scared to death. It isn’t the worst recession since the Great Depression, the lack of demand and customers that is plaguing businesses; it is the fear of tax hikes and regulation<\/strong>. <\/p>\n

In response, Boehner detailed a five point plan to "break the ongoing economic uncertainty."<\/p>\n

Three of the five points are basically rhetorical. He calls on Obama to pledge to veto any future tax increase. He calls on Obama to fire his economic team. And he pledge to eliminate the 1099 tax return mandate that requires small businesses to report any expenditure on goods and services over $600, an aggravation that Democrats are intent on reversing also.<\/p>\n

The last two points have greater substance. Boehner would keep tax rates where they are, opposing Obama’s plan to let the Bush tax cuts expire for couples making more than $250,000 a year, or the top 2% of Americans<\/strong>. The Center for Budget and Policy Priorities estimates<\/a> this would add about $1 trillion to the deficit over the next 10 years.<\/p>\n

Second, he would impose an immediate cut of about 25% on domestic discretionary spending, returning it back to 2008 levels<\/strong>, repealing any further recovery spending. Later, he suggests that the cut with a "hard cap" (presumably for 3 years) would save $340 billion, recouping a little more than a third of his proposed top end tax cut. <\/p>\n

That’s it. (Later in the speech, Boehner promises to unveil a more complete agenda in the future, and suggests possibilities, including the conservative standards — less spending, more tax cuts, less regulation, and more corporate trade treaties. Details to come later.)\u2026 [emphasis added<\/em>]<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Inserted from <Huffington Post<\/a>><\/p>\n

Keith Olbermann covered this with two video segments.  In the first, he goes over the plan, and Biden\u2019s response, and discusses it with a small business owner in Boehner\u2019s district.<\/font><\/p>\n

<\/embed><\/object><\/font><\/p>\n

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news<\/a>, world news<\/a>, and news about the economy<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

In the second, he and Howard Fineman continue the discussion.<\/font><\/p>\n

<\/embed><\/object><\/font><\/p>\n

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news<\/a>, world news<\/a>, and news about the economy<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s my take.<\/font><\/p>\n

#1. This cannot be part of a Republican plan, because Republicans lack the power to institute what Obama may and may not veto.  This just became a four point plan.<\/font><\/p>\n

Second #1.  I agree with Boehner that Obama should fore Geithner and Summers.  I would add Bernanke to that list.  However, that cannot be part of a Republican plan, because Republicans lack the power to institute it.  This just became a three point plan.<\/font><\/p>\n

Third #1.  Democrats proposed reversing the 1099 mandate, before Boehner did.  It\u2019s part of the Democratic Plan.  This just became a two point plan.<\/font><\/p>\n

Fourth #1.  Less taxes for the uber-rich.  What a surprise!  This will do nothing to stimulate the economy.<\/font><\/p>\n

#2.  A 25% cut on discretionary spending is not a plan unless it includes what to cut and by how much.  This just became a one point plan: No Millionaire left Behind<\/em><\/strong>.<\/font><\/p>\n

Are you surprised that the great new plan is the same as the old plan that drove this nation to the bring of financial collapse?<\/font><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

John Boehner took a rare vacation from the tanning beds, the golf course, and the Washington bar scene to give what he called a major economic address.   If this is the best the Republicans have to offer we have reason to celebrate. Rep. John Boehner, the perpetually tanned House Minority leader, unveiled his plan to […]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2668","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","category-5-id","post-seq-1","post-parity-odd","meta-position-corners","fix"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2668","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2668"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2668\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2668"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2668"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2668"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}