Republicans: You Can’t Borrow and Spend Back to Prosperity

Last updated on August 10th, 2014 at 11:57 pm

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In the weekly Republican radio address House Minority Leader Rep. John Boehner touted the Republican plan to stimulate the economy through tax cuts while accusing Democrats of wanting to give out government checks disguised as tax cuts.

Here is the video:

“Our plan provides relief for every single American taxpayer, cutting the lowest income tax rates. That’s up to an extra 3,200 dollars per family every year — money that can be saved, spent, or invested in any way you see fit. Our plan provides a tax credit for home purchases to help bring the housing market back to life. It ends the unfair taxation of unemployment benefits, allowing those seeking work to focus on finding a job, not giving part of their check back to Uncle Sam. And it includes incentives to encourage small businesses to invest more in new equipment and, more importantly, hire new employees. Giving entrepreneurs a chance to expand their businesses will create good-paying jobs and accelerate our recovery,” Boehner said.

The obvious flaw in the Republican plan to deal with the housing market is that before anyone can take advantage of the tax credit, they must be able to borrow the money to buy the house. One of the biggest current problems with our system is that the lenders aren’t lending, and I don’t see how a tax cut will solve that problem.

He also pointed out that there are some unrelated items in the Democratic proposal, “Our plan is rooted in the philosophy that we cannot borrow and spend our way back to prosperity. Unfortunately, the trillion dollar spending plan authored by congressional Democrats is chock-full of government programs and projects — most of which won’t provide immediate relief to our ailing economy.” I agree with Rep. Boehner on this one, now isn’t the time to be spending money on more digital tv converters, and the National Endowment for the Arts. My question is if the government won’t spend the money, then who will?

Boehner also discussed the national debt, “Their plan also provides government-funded paychecks — disguised as tax cuts — for those who don’t pay income taxes. All told, the plan would spend a whopping 275,000 dollars in taxpayer dollars for every new job it aims to create, saddling each and every household with 6,700 dollars in additional debt – paid for by our children and grandchildren.” I find it hysterical that Republican Party now cares about the deficit. They just spent eight years spending this country into the poor house, and once they are no longer in power, the national debt matters.

At its core the House Republican plan is the same thing that George W. Bush did for the past eight years, tax cuts. They are still operating based on the theory of trickledown economics. If they would look around, they would see that the Bush tax cuts did not help the economy, but as has become the common problem with Republican Party, they are still offering solutions that are based in ideology, not practicality.

Jason Easley

Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.

Awards and  Professional Memberships

Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association