So long as John Boehner is the face and brains of the Republican Party, I can pretty much guarantee you that Nancy Pelosi will own the speaker's gavel. Good God. The man is a dolt.
To wit: Two days ago, Obama said that he hadn't seen a Republican alternative to his budget. So, to prove they're not the party of no, Republican leaders staged a press conference this afternoon announcing their budget. Only, like, not really. The budget was missing, um, numbers and stuff, which is generally what budget's are all about.
House Republican leaders called a press conference Thursday to unveil their "alternative budget." While it was thin on specifics, it does include one major policy proposal: a huge tax cut for the wealthy.
Under the Republican plan, the top marginal tax rate would be slashed from 35 to 25 percent, facilitating a dramatic transfer of wealth up the economic scale. Anyone making more than a $100,000 would pay the top rate; those under would pay 10 percent.
"Two nights ago, the president said, 'We haven't seen a budget yet out of Republicans.' Well, it's just not true, because here it is, Mr. President," said House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio), waving a blue document in the air.
"Today we're introducing a detailed road-to-recovery plan," he told the reporters. Other than the tax proposal, however, the plan was absent any details. Instead, it hammered the Democratic budget as too expensive.
To review, the Republicans' "budget" is, um, criticizing Obama and tax cuts for the rich. Really. And Republicans wonder why no one takes them seriously. House Democrats aren't all the sharpest tools in the shed, but come on. Wait, it gets better. Check out Boehner's exhange with reporters:
Are you going to have any further details on this today?" the first asked.
"On what?" asked Boehner.
"There's no detail in here," noted the reporter.
â?¦
A third reporter asked Boehner about the Republican goal for deficit reduction, noting President Obama aimed to cut it in half in five years. "What's your goal?"
"To do better," said Boehner.
"How? How much?"
"You'll see next week."
â?¦"In general, where do you see cuts coming?" the Huffington Post asked.
"We'll wait and see next week," he said.
Another reporter reminded Boehner that he has "criticized Democrats for throwing together a stimulus quickly and nobody knew what they were voting on. Are you saying that your budget will be unveiled on the same day that the House is expected to vote on it?"
"No, I expect it'll be out next week," he said, though the House is expected to vote on the budget next week. "But understand that a budget really is a one-page document. It's just a bunch of numbers."
Wow. Just, wow.
