Republicans' Disastrous Economic Priorities

Today the DSCC issued this press release:

The priorities House Republican Leader John Boehner outlined in his "major economic speech" today were predictable: more unpaid for tax cuts for the wealthy, privatization of Social Security and Medicare, and tax breaks for companies outsourcing American jobs.

Boehner's top priority is passing unpaid for tax cuts for the wealthy that will add nearly $700 billion to the deficit. He said that failure to pass debt-financed tax cuts for the wealthy would be a "recipe for disaster." Despite Boehner's tough rhetoric on fiscal responsibility, the Republican agenda is to continue debt-financed tax cuts for the wealthy and tax breaks for companies who ship American jobs overseas.

Boehner also reaffirmed his support for the budget proposal written by the top Republican on the Budget Committee, Representative Paul Ryan. The Boehner-Ryan plan would privatize Social Security and dismantle Medicare, turning the program into a voucher program that forces seniors to buy coverage on their own from private insurance companies.


Fact Check on Republican Leader John Boehner's “Major Economic Speech”

Boehner Spin: "So let me be clear: raising taxes on families and small businesses during a recession is a recipe for disaster – both for our economy and for the deficit."

FACT: Democrats are proposing middle class and small business tax cuts. The Republican Plan for Debt-Financed Tax Breaks for the Wealthy is a Recipe for Disaster for the Deficit. The Republican plan to provide unpaid for tax breaks to the wealthy would add $680 billion to the deficit. According to the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, "Extending the high-income tax cuts would increase deficits by even larger amounts in subsequent decades. Thus, if Congress extends these tax cuts, the nation’s fiscal trajectory will be even worse, and the risks to future economic growth consequently will increase." [Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, 4/1/10, 8/3/10]

FACT: Greenspan: Extending Tax Cuts Without Paying for Them Would Be 'Disastrous.' Former Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan said on Meet the Press that extending the Bush tax cuts without offsetting the costs elsewhere could end up being "disastrous" for the economy. "I'm very much in favor of tax cuts but not with borrowed money and the problem that we have gotten into in recent years is spending programs with borrowed money, tax cuts with borrowed money." [Meet the Press, 8/1/10]

Boehner Spin: "We need to take a long and hard look at the undergrowth of deductions, credits, and special carveouts that our tax code has become."

FACT: Boehner Has Led The Fight to Protect Tax Breaks for Companies Who Ship American Jobs Overseas. Boehner led near unanimous Republican opposition to legislation that paid for protecting the jobs of police, firefighters, and teachers through closing tax loopholes that encourage companies to move American jobs overseas. [HR 1586, #518, 8/10/10]

FACT: Boehner and Republicans Opposed Legislation to End Tax Breaks for Companies Who Ship American Jobs Overseas. In May, Republicans opposed The American Jobs, Closing Tax Loopholes and Preventing Outsourcing Act, legislation that would prevent corporations from using current U.S. foreign tax credit rules to subsidize their foreign activities. [HR 4213, #324, 5/28/10].

FACT: Boehner and Republicans Opposed Small Business Relief Paid For By Closing Outsourcing Tax Breaks. In July, Republicans opposed legislation that would have reduced paperwork and reporting requirements for small businesses and been paid for by ending tax breaks that encourage companies to move American jobs overseas. [HR 5982, #514, 7/30/10; The Hill, 7/30/10]

Boehner Spin: "Republicans on the House Budget Committee, led by Congressman Paul Ryan, have already identified $1.3 trillion in specific spending cuts that could be implemented immediately."

FACT: Boehner-Ryan Plan Would Privatize Social Security and Dismantle Medicare. Under the Republican "Roadmap for America's Future" that Boehner praises, "Medicare is privatized. Seniors get a voucher to buy private insurance, and the voucher's growth is far slower than the expected growth of health-care costs. Medicaid is also privatized… And beyond health care, Social Security gets guaranteed, private accounts that CBO says will actually cost more than the present arrangement" [Washington Post’s Ezra Klein, 2/1/10]

FACT: Boehner-Ryan Plan Cuts Medicare by 76%, Forces Seniors to Buy Coverage From Private Insurance. Under the Republican plan for Medicare, "By 2080, Medicare would be cut 76 percent below its projected size under current policies, according to CBO. In other words, by 2080, the vouchers that would replace Medicare would receive one-quarter of the resources that Medicare would otherwise use." [Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, 7/7/10]

FACT: Boehner Consistently Supports Social Security Privatization and Voted to Dismantle Medicare Into Vouchers. Boehner has been a longtime supporter of privatizing Social Security. He even said in 2006 about privatization, "If I'm around in a leadership role come January, we're going to get serious about it." [Washington Times, 7/31/06; US Federal News, Boehner Answers Community's Questions, 4/29/05; Letter to The Social Security Reform Commission, 5/24/01]

In 2009, Boehner led 137 House Republicans who voted for a plan "that would eventually end the Medicare program as it is presently known," according to the Associated Press. The Republican plan would dismantle Medicare, turning it into a voucher program and forcing seniors to buy insurance on their own from private insurance companies. [Roll Call Vote #191, 4/2/09; Associated Press, 4/2/09]

Boehner Spin: "It's time to put grown-ups in charge. It's time for people willing to accept responsibility. It's time to do what we say we're going to do."

FACT: Under Republican Control, Deficits Skyrocketed and Debt Increased by $3 Trillion. Under the failed economic policies of President George W. Bush and Congressional Republicans, the national debt increased by $3 trillion. [TreasuryDirect Daily History of Debt]

Boehner Spin: "I've said that if I were fortunate enough to be Speaker of the House, I would run the House differently. And I don't just mean differently than the way Democrats are running it now. I mean differently than it’s been run in the past under Democrats OR Republicans…Look at spending. We don’t just need to stop spending so much, we need to stop spending so irrationally."

FACT: Republican Whip Eric Cantor Said Republicans Will Allow Their Earmark Ban to Expire After the Election, Despite Top Budget Committee Republican Saying Earmarks Increase Taxes. According to a report in Politico yesterday, "Cantor also signaled that earmarks may come back, after a one-year hiatus in which House Republicans set a moratorium on all earmark requests." The top Republican on the Budget Committee, Rep. Paul Ryan has criticized earmarks, saying they eventually increase the burden on taxpayers. [Politico, 8/23/10; Paul Ryan Op-Ed, 3/3/09]