House Minority Leader John Boehner today called on President Obama to fire his economic team and briefly sketched out what Republicans would plan to do if they regain control of Congress

The $64,000 question is... was he SOBER when he made this asinine demand?

'Briefly'... like we've come to expect anything less from these idiots?

Who can EVER forget the Republican budget last year... you all remember? The one that was 8 pages and contained NO numbers? lol

I call on the people of Ohio to fire Boner.

Hey Boehner - I'll take a community organizer over a golf pro any day of the week. btw, what's wrong with community organizers?

Since the recession began in 2008 (while George W. Bush was still president), this is the only solid economiy policy suggestion that John Boehner has made.

Fiesty,

House Minority Leader John Boehner today called on President Obama to fire his economic team and briefly sketched out what Republicans would plan to do if they regain control of Congress

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Sounds like a bait and switch to me; Hahaha

But, then if bone head is already drunk who would he know he's a fraud to the United States of America!!

Isn't it punishable by law drinking on the job while giving a speech drunk ?

Fixing Washington isn't a YES or NO solution, and even if it were, the GOP only could only get it right 50% of the time because they seem to have just one answer: NO!

correction of typo error: But, then if bone head is already drunk how would he know he's a fraud to the United States of America!!

Don't forget he was one of the Republican party members who got us to this point ... failing banks ..bad mortgages...and in the 8 bush years.... ZERO JOB GROWTH... they sent everything overseas !

While taking huge bribe's ....i mean donations ...wink wink !!!

I think we the working citizens of this country would have been better off if he had issued the same remark to Bush & Cheney - what's the matter boner, had to wait to make that extra million or so before you wanted anything changed? Yep, I thought so.

This from the guy with the nick name " Babbs " .....dont ask !

Republican John Boehner Much Talked About “Major Speech This A.m Overview, More Of The Same Calls For Heads
he also uses some “Familiar Rhetoric,”
using the phrase 'job killing' 13 times to describe Obama economic policies,
Comment” He Should Know Since The Republican Policies of 8+ Years Drove This Economy into the ditch and “Killed Jobs”
CLEVELAND (AP) -- House Republican leader John Boehner on Tuesday urged President Barack Obama to support an extension of tax cuts

and to fire key economic advisers, arguing that 19 month of "government as community organizer" hasn't worked.

In a speech to the City Club of Cleveland, Boehner said Obama needs to act immediately on several fronts to break what the Republican describes as "ongoing economic uncertainty."

Boehner said the president should work with the GOP to "Renew Soon-To-Expire Bush Tax Cuts For The Wealthy Enacted under President George W. Bush.

You Know Those Tax Cuts For the RIch That WIll Add $3 Trillion Dollars To The "Defici" That Republicans and The Tea Party Keep Talking About How It Will Saddle Their Kids With Debt For Years To Come, But..................IF It's To Give Money TO The Rich It's Ok To Saddle Our Kids With an Additional $3 Trillion Dollar To The Deficit"

Not To Mention How Many Times Meet The Press David Gregory has Conered These guys, Bohner, McConnell & Pence & Not One Could Explain How THey Would Pay For this $3 Trillion Dollar Increase To The Federal Deficit, finally on Sunday McConnell said, "It's Policy" fight!

The lawmaker also called on Obama to propose aggressive spending cuts and seek the resignations of Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, the head of the National Economic Council, Larry Summers, and other members of his economic team.

Ok WHo Did The Republicans "Fire" For Causing This Near Depression, to American Families? Just Who Did They Hold Accountable? I Challenge Mr. Boehner to name one Republican!

He also called for repeal of some elements of Obama's health care overhaul law, arguing that some requirements are too much of an imposition on small businesses. No Mention Of and the affects On Those 44,000 Americans who are dying each and every year in a Democracy because they are "Excluded" for Pre-existing Conditions, dropped when they have serious illnessess, or just can't afford Health Insurance. What a "Christian Attitude"

The Ohio Republican said U.S. employers are afraid to invest in an economy stalled by the president's economic stimulus package and hamstrung by uncertainty.

Translation: Sending A Message To Corporations to Continue to “Hold The Middle Class Families “Hostage” Refuse To Give Them Jobs, keep holding on to tons of cash since policies implemented fixing this country from the bottom up and providing Middle Class Families and the Poor with a “Fair” chance of Survival inthis country for them and their familiesr

"The prospect of higher taxes, stricter rules and more regulations has employers sitting on their hands," Boehner said. Translation: Republicans are for more "Deregulation" No interest in Regulations

Translation: Refuse to acknowledge that Removing Regulations ie; Implementation Of “Deregulation” By The Republicans Caused This Near Depression So Less Remind Americans via a Stroll Down Memory Lane!

The Subprime Mess and Phil Gramm: An Experiment in Deregulation

In 1999, former Republican Senator Phil Gramm (who is, incidentally, Senator John McCain's economic adviser and cochairs his presidential campaign) set out to completely gut the Glass-Steagall Act, and did so successfully,

replacing most of its components with the new Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act:

allowing commercial banks, investment banks, and insurers to merge (which would have violated antitrust laws under Glass-Steagall).

Sen. Gramm was the driving force behind the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, as he had received over $4.6 million from the FIRE sector (Finance, Insurance and Real Estate donations) over the previous decade,

and once the Act passed, an influx of "megamergers" took place among banks and insurance and securities companies, as if they had been eagerly awaiting the passage of Gramm's Act.

Everything in between Glass-Steagall and Gramm-Leach-Bliley (i.e. Savings and Loan crisis/bust) was, in large part, the incubation period for what would take place over the nine years that would follow the passage of Gramm's Act: an experiment in deregulation.

Shortly after George W. Bush was elected president, Congress and President Clinton were trying to pass a $384 billion omnibus spending bill, and while the debates swirled around the passage of this bill, Senator Phil Gramm clandestinely slipped a 262-page amendment into the omnibus appropriations bill titled: “Commodity Futures Modernization Act.”

It is likely that few senators read this bill, if any. T

he essence of the act was the deregulation of derivatives trading (financial instruments whose value changes in response to the changes in underlying variables; the main use of derivatives is to reduce risk for one party).

The legislation contained a provision -- lobbied for by Enron, a major campaign contributor to Gramm -- that exempted energy trading from regulatory oversight.

Basically, it gave way to the Enron debacle and ushered in the new era of unregulated securities.

Interestingly enough, Gramm's wife, Wendy, had been part of the Enron board, and her salary and stock income brought in between $900,000 and $1.8 million to the Gramm household, prior to the passage of the Commodity Futures Modernization Act.

In 2003, Gramm left the Senate to join UBS, which had acquired investment house PaineWebber due to his deregulation bill.

At UBS, Gramm lobbied Congress, the Fed and the Treasury Department

During Gramm's tenor at UBS and as a lobbyist, Congress passed the Responsible Lending Act, billed as an anti-predatory-lending measure, but was called the "Loan Shark Protection Act" by consumer advocates, as it was designed to preempt stronger state laws against anti-predatory lending.

The Fed largely ignored the underlying and growing problems within the subprime mortgage/housing markets, as Bernanke famously acknowledged the housing market in April, 2007 as, "[showing] signs of softening," but said that a

"sharp slowdown," is unlikely.

Then, Henry Paulson became the Treasury Secretary in July, 2007, when, "In 2005, [at] Goldman [he] securitized $68 billion in residential mortgages and $23 billion in 'other assets' primarily related to CDOs," (Mother Jones, August, 2008).

With such self-interest, and a lack of the nation's interest, we can see how this subprime mess was allowed to escalate to such great proportions.

Some justice was served, however, this spring, as UBS became one of the subprime debacle's biggest losers, having to write down $37 billion -- the same amount as their previous four years of profits combined.

UBS also made the public aware that two-thirds of its losses were due to reckless investing in collateralized debt obligations (CDOs).

Now, Gramm has a second chance of extending his out-of-touch and ill-performing policies, as Senator John McCain appointed Gramm to be his "economic expert" and cochair of his presidential campaign, last year.

Also, it is likely that if Senator McCain were to win in November, Gramm would be our next Treasury Secretary, which means more of the same “Deregulatory Mess” and the continuation of “Failed and “Insidious Economic Policies.

The speech was short on details about the Republican agenda,

with Boehner promising that the GOP will release its plan next month.

Promises, Promises, Promises! For 2 Years and 8 Years Prior To That!

"Endless spending sprees, entangled tax structures and bureaucracy run amok -- these are all outgrowths of a tired, bloated and broken Washington," Boehner said

Yes Mr. Boehner and we have you, Mr. Graham and your Republican Colleagues to thank for that!

This from the guy with the nick name " Babbs " .....don't ask !

Rep. Boehner: "We've tried 19 months of government-as-community-organizer. It hasn't worked. Our fresh start needs to begin now."

Actually, Mr. Boehner, it's more like about 24 months that your party's been trying to use that "community organizer" phrase as some sort of negative attack.

But hey - you're right - it hasn't worked. Didn't work at your 2008 convention, still isn't working today. So yeah, your fresh start DOES need to begin now, 'cause this speech sure wasn't it.

Republican Leader Mitch McConnell’s Con: Cut Social Security to Enable Tax Cuts to the Rich

MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell catches the dishonest bait and switch that Republican Senate Leader Mitch McConnell tried to pawn off on Sunday’s Meet the Press. *

On MTP, McConnell repeatedly dodged and weaved to avoid answering a simple question from host David Gregory, which boils down to this:

if you Republicans are so hysterical about the size of US budget deficits and cumulative debt, how do you avoid increasing them by a cumulative $3.2 trillion if you extend all of the Bush era tax cuts?

McConnell’s evasion was to argue the question shouldn’t even be asked because (1) we don’t have to offset costs from already “existing” programs and (2) you should never raise taxes in a recession.

Lawrence debunked the first dodge: the Republican tax cut legislation expires this year, as Republicans planned, precisely to avoid facing the deficit issue. Extending the cuts requires new legislation, so the question is relevant if you contend new costs must be offset to avoid adding to the deficit.

On the second part of the evasion, Lawrence notes McConnell, John Boehner and other Republicans have already signaled that Social Security and Medicare should be on the block to satisfy the deficit reduction hysteria they and foolish

Democrats have fostered.

But the full response to this second McConnell evasion comes in the followup interview with David Cay Johnston. You can’t view the tax cut extension issue in isolation. Reducing government revenues while pushing deficit hysteria are not inconsistent in the Republican framework

No, it’s the core of the “Republican Governing Philosophy”

to strangle government revenues, so as to starve public interest government that serves the middle class.

Drown a minimalist government in a bathtub — but this time, it’s not welfare recipients who take the bath but seniors.

The leaves only McConnell’s argument about not raising taxes during a recession, to which Lawrence and too many Democrats only weakly respond.

Putting aside the irony that McConnell is making an essentially Keynsian argument for stimulus — tax cuts will help boost aggregate demand and spending — he’s wrong on that too.

As most macro economists have noted before, if you’re worried about the effect of taxes on aggregate demand during a recession, it matters where the money goes.

Who gets the tax cut?

And what would they do with it?

Giving nearly $700 billion over ten years to the richest people in America is probably the worst form of economic stimulus;

less will be spent to boost the economy,

and more will be gambled on Wall Street.

It’s just another form of Wall Street bailout, but without even the presumed justification of saving the financial sector.

Reallocating that $700 billion, and especially the next two years’ worth of $70 billion or so, to those much more likely to spend it, would provide 5 times or more economic stimulus.

So a policy concerned about the recession would redirect money from the rich to the poor.

For example, Jamie Galbraith and friends have suggested, we should augment Social Security payments until we’re closer to full employment.

McConnell and Republicans are thus advocating economic policies that are up-side-down, that would hurt the economy.

Instead of protecting the economy in a downturn, their policies would make the economy worse, because the tax cut “stimulus” would be extracted by

cutting payments to seniors who spend proportionally more and

given to rich people who spend proportionally less.

(That’s part of what David Johnston means when he says McConnell’s ideas would hurt small businesses.)

And stealing from seniors to make the rich richer

would exacerbate income disparity in the US, which has been getting worse for decades.

So the choice is clear:

If you don’t want to worsen the economy,

worsen income disparity,

make the rich richer and

Seniors Poorer,

then for heaven’s sake, don’t vote Republican.

And if any Democrat proposes the same Republican agenda, don’t vote for them either

"But the GOP House leader didn't address the largest parts of the federal-spending pie: entitlements like Social Security and Medicare."

FR, you left out defense spending. Even with 2 wars and terrorism, why is it ok for us to have a bigger defense budget than the rest of the world combined? Combined! Including Russia, China, Japan, Europe, India and Brazil! Are we richer than the rest of the world combined?! Mind boggling

Boehner Gets Specific On His Plans To Halt Federal Regulation ie; (Putting Congress On “Auto Polit” No Work Continue The “Just Say No” Policy Sit Back & Relax At TaxPayer Expense”

House Minority Leader John Boehner has finally gotten specific about his recent call for a moratorium on new federal regulations, and a look at just what kinds of regulations -- other than the obvious ones implementing health care and Wall Street reforms -- that Boehner's plan would block.

Boehner last week endorsed the REINS Act, sponsored by Rep. Geoff Davis (R-KY), which states that "any rulemaking where the estimated cost to Americans would exceed $100 million," could not go into effect "without Congress voting on it first."

That's short of the full moratorium for which Boehner initially called, but could nonetheless be a recipe for gridlock and ugly politics.

That standard in the act would ensnare scores of new regulations every year, including both broadly popular, time-sensitive ones, and others over which remain substantial partisan disagreement.

The REINS (Regulations from the Executive In Need of Scrutiny) Act, while it imposes burdensome congressional oversight of regulations costing more than $100 million, does contain exemptions for emergency situations, enforcement of criminal laws, national security regulations, monetary policy rules proposed by the Fed Board of Governors, and the implementation of international trade agreements.

Congress would have to explicitly sign off on everything else before it could take effect.

The $100 million figure is no accident.

It's the cost threshold at which the Office of Management and Budget classifies a regulation as economically significant, requiring review by the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs.

Many such regulations are under review right now, according to OIRA's website.

To cherry pick one from the Defense Department: "This rule implements policy, assigns responsibilities, and provides procedures for addressing child abuse and domestic abuse in military communities. It prescribes procedures for determining whether allegations of child abuse and allegations of domestic abuse meet criteria for entry into the Service Family Advocacy Program (FAP) Central Registry."

Most of the regulation that meet the standard are highly obscure. Some, like the above DoD rule, are sensitive but hardly politically charged. Others reflect policies that the GOP strongly opposes, and which would have a hard time surviving on the Hill under Republican leadership.

For instance, OIRA last year conducted 20 separate reviews of economically significant EPA regulations, including mandatory reporting rules for greenhouse gas emissions, and rules implementing a renewable fuel standard, as required by the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007.

In the near future it will no doubt be reviewing economically significant rules pertaining to the implementation of the health care and Wall Street reform laws. Under Boehner's plan, all of them would be subject to a lengthy legislative process, and possibly to rejection.

Comment: Translation, suing our Taxpayer dollars to hurt suffering Americans making sure to stall or reverse health care to our elderly, sick and the poor

Looking back at OIRA oversight in 2009, one can get a better understanding of the kinds of rules that would be subject to additional scrutiny, holding up their implementation, and possibly rejected.

Only two Department of Veterans Affairs rules met the economic significance standard in 2009, but one of them was required before the VA health care system could be expanded to enroll more Category 8 veterans (higher income veterans without service-related disabilities).

Over at the Pentagon, one of its three economically significant rulemakings provided for retroactive stop-loss special pay for service members.

Twenty-nine different Department of Health and Human Services rules were determined to be economically significant in 2009 including the implementation of provisions in the stimulus bill meant to promote the use of electronic health records, and guidelines for diminishing the risk of Salmonella in egg products.

This plan might be less far-reaching than Boehner's original moratorium plan, and would have to pass in Congress and be signed into law by President Obama -- a hard climb at best.

But it provides a snapshot of the GOP's policy agenda ahead of an election in which they could take back the House of Representatives

Republican Boehner derides “Police Officers and Teachers & Firefighters” as ‘special interests.’ Voted Against the Bill To Keep Over 400,000 Employed

Apparently He Thinks He Will Never Need Their Services

From CNN:

"The National Association of Realtors said existing home sales plummeted 27% last month, marking the lowest sales pace since NAR began tracking the figure in 1999."

Hmmm...

So...unemployment is rising, the Administration's economic stimulus package (by any objective standard) is a failure, and the U.S. economy isn't growing by any significant measure...

So...why shouldn't President Obama follow John Boehner's advice, and dismiss the Administration's economic team?

Christina Romer, in effect, fired herself...why shouldn't the President throw Larry and Tim out as well?

Lets face it folks, the repugnants have worked very hard the past 10 years for their very wealthy friends and they are working even harder to make sure those same wealthy friends continue to profit. In a throw the bumbs out mentality - lets throw out every repugnant in office! Take away their retirement plan - better yet, make them invest it in the stock market they are so fond of! Fine heavily anyone who sends their money out of this great nation to avoid paying taxes (you know to the Cayman Islands or Switzerland), and let those tax cuts expire. That is money those folks will never miss, of course it could help pay the war debt, then they would have no platform at all would they?

Republican “Corporate Elites” Johner Boehner Boos Unemployment Report
He Said

"Welcome to the reality of President Obama's broken promises..."

What He Should Have Said

BOO Me & My Republican “Corporate Elites” Friends Really Screwed Up Unemployment In This Country

Put Hard Working American Families On The Streets, Families Sleeping In Cars, Living With Family and Friends,

Caused Hard Working American Families to Loose Their Home, Jobs, Retirement

“Man We The Republican “Corporate Elitess” Really Screwed Up”

Folks No “remorse” Just Arrogance, “Corporate Elites,” and acting as fix “We The People are “Dumb” and
“Stupid”

& Have Memory Loss”

What A “Corporate Elites” Attitude John Boehner & His Republican “Corporate Elites” Friends Have Blasting Those who are trying to “Fix Their Mess”

& 80 Year Near Depression the worst Leadership Since the Great Depression

Yet They Have the Nerve to Blame someone else!

It Took The Republicans “Corporate Elitess” 10 Years To Cause A “Near Depression After 80 Years

& They Have The Nerve TO “Make Fun” of The President & others Who Are Trying To clean Up This Republican “Corporate Elites” Mess

Republicans “Corporate Elitess” Kicked The Middle Class & those less Fortunate and the Poor Under The Bus

Republicans “Corporate Elitess” Are Voting “NO” to everything in congress that will help the very families

they took away their ability to take care of their families, took their jobs, their homes, retirement

Now theRepublican “Corporate Elitess” are “Elitist Bragging About How The President Can’t Fix The Mess the Republican “Corporate Elites” Made!

Republican “Corporate Elitess” are voting “No” on any policy that would turn our economy around

expecting the American people to reward them

for sitting in congress

“Playing Hookey

, Doing Nothing,

Stalling,

Voting No on every Issue &

Bragging about how they will make sure “Our” Economy does not move

“Holding The Congress Hostage”

No Ideas

, No Participation

, While We The People Are Paying Their Pay Checks

and they continue to throw those families they have irreparably harmed “under the bus”

To Make Sure They Get Re-elected!

Talk about Arrogance, “Corporate Elitess, Noses In The Air, No Remorse

Just Doing Everything Republicans “Corporate Elitess” can to make sure that Middle Class and poor Families don’t survive this Near Depression that Republican “Corporate Elitess” “Corporate Elites” Caused

All The While Bragging and counting on that We The American People have forgotten how we got to this place!

Our Votes Will Remedy that problem in November!

"So...unemployment is rising, the Administration's economic stimulus package (by any objective standard) is a failure, and the U.S. economy isn't growing by any significant measure...

So...why shouldn't President Obama follow John Boehner's advice, and dismiss the Administration's economic team?

Christina Romer, in effect, fired herself...why shouldn't the President throw Larry and Tim out as well?"

We know the person who made this comment is smart enough to know how we got to this place. SO Please tell us who the Republicans "Fired" for causing this Near Depression,

Please tell us about the 8+years it took us to get in this mess, and

Tell us that you really don't believe the Rhetoric from these guys who cause this mess and

That you really care more about your self and your family to sit back and cruise into a "Real Depression" one that just might hit your family as well

Tell us your support of these people who pushed America under the bus is for some reason other than that you actually believe these guys!

Family first, no other economic interest should ever trump that of the family!

"We've tried 19 months of government"...John Boehner

Wait.just.a.minute. WE tried?! Boehner, YOU and YOUR party didn't 'TRY' anything. You said no time and time again. YOU OFFERED NOTHING, NOTHING to help our failing economy.

WE TRIED? You have got to be kidding me. You tried nothing. You coward.

Why do all of the people on this blog think that the Dems are there to help them? They're just the same "Rich" guys that you all hate but they got that way swindling you out of your money under the guise of protecting you. Kinda like the Mob. For some reason people who don't bring new and innovative ideas to market providing jobs and growth for this country don't like people who do. I'm as middle class as it gets, have never asked for anything from the government, worked in a ball bearing factory 50 hours a week at night taking classes during the day in order to get through college, and I hope that the family that owns the company I work for makes more money this year and next and the next......... 500 or so of us depend on the decisions they make to support our families. Where do all of you want to work, (that is if you want to work and not just receive a hand out) For a company that's strong and growing?.....or one that's considering moving over seas to get away from the anti business dems and the "I'm looking out for you" unions that do more to send jobs beyond our borders than any Republican. Wake up

Substance and a plan Boehner those word don't even go together. Only plan this guy has is Happy Hour.

June, Fl, stop blaming others for the failures of this admin. Bottom line is Obama got elected saying he had the answers and the right group of folks to solve this problem and he has achieved nothing in regards to fixing this economy.

He wanted the job, he said he coudle handle it, he's got it. Do something to fix it or admit you are in over your head and get someone in there that knows what they are doing.

I get tired of everybody making excuses for their failures, take some responsibility and get something done. Show some leadership...