In a new study released by NDN today, we calculate that the plan released by John Boehner yesterday would add more than $3 trillion to the deficit over the next ten years.
That the new economic plan from the House Republican Leader explodes the deficit and does nothing meaningful to cut government spending raises very real questions about the Washington Republican Party's commitment to the promise of a new age of austerity and fiscal rectitutde Republican victories will bring.
I would also add that the utter lack of fiscal seriousness of this proposal - despite the very public positioning of the Republican Party today - recalls the economic recklessness of the recent conservative era in Washington which brought a decline in wages and benefits for the average American, an exploding structural deficit, the Great Recession/massive job loss and a global financial meltdown. Boehner's new plan makes no effort to break from this horrendous legacy, and raises very real questions about the economic strategy of the GOP which must be answered by the GOP leader and all his candidates seeking the House.
Of the many questions to be asked, there is a simple one all Republicans should answer now: "how exactly are you going to reduce the deficit over the next ten years?"
My guess is that not a single Republican running for major office could actually lay out a plan that would reduce the deficit over this time frame. If anyone finds such a plan - rather than a rhetorical commitment to do so - please send it along.
PM Update - Sam Stein of the Huffington Post, and Jonathan Cohn of TNR have each written pieces today based on our study. If you see any more let us know. And feel free of course to spread this important study through your networks too.
Friday Update - Keith Olbermann talked about our study on the air last night, and a smart new Newsweek piece by Andrew Romano also references it.
Friday PM Update - CBO reports this week that if the health care bill passed this year is repealed, as Boehner proposed in his economic plan, it would add another $455 billion to the deficit over the next ten years, pushing Boehner's plan over the $4 trillion mark.