John Boehner went on CNN yesterday, and was put on the spot by Dana Bash who tried, not entire successfully, to get him to say specifically where his spending cuts would come from.
"It's not rocket science. Let's start with all of the TARP funds. Let's get the TARP money back and use it to pay down our debt. Let's bring all the unspent stimulus money back. You know, the stimulus was supposed to create jobs in America and it hasn't," said Boehner.
When pressed for examples of other cuts he would make, he repeated his call to return unspent stimulus and bailout funds to the federal treasury.
"There's $700 billion right there, " he said.
The Speaker's blog takes it from here:
Really, there is $700 billion in unspent stimulus and TARP money? Not so much, Mr. Boehner. This isn’t the first time Mr. Boehner has made the charge about "unspent stimulus money." Nonpartisan Pulitzer Prize-winning Politifact calls his bluff in August and rates it "FALSE":
As of Aug. 4, 2010, $223 billion of the promised $288 billion in tax relief had already been paid out, as had $132 billion of the budgeted $275 billion for projects and $140 billion of the $224 billion set aside in the stimulus for entitlements. That comes to $495 billion that has already gone out the door.
There was $787 billion in the stimulus, so that leaves only $292 billion that hasn’t yet been paid out by the government... But we think it’s misleading to refer to even that lower number as "unspent" stimulus, because much of the $292 billion has been obligated, even though it has not been paid out.
The term "unspent" becomes even more suspect when talking about the stimulus projects ... According to Recovery.gov, 80 percent ($215 billion) of the project funds have been awarded and are under contract and agreement. Most are currently underway. Another $25 billion has been awarded but isn’t under contract yet. And the final $25 billion is in the process of being awarded. ... There’s not nearly as much left unspent – and that could conceivably be used to offset the expense of extending the Bush tax cuts – as Boehner suggested. We rate his claim False.
Furthermore, repealing the Recovery Act would effectively raise taxes on 110 million American families and thousands of small businesses.
Boehner also has apparently forgotten that he was a big supporter of TARP back in October, 2008. He voted for it, and even got a little emotional about it.
It is a lot to expect of Boehner to interrupt his golf game and actually learn stuff about the economy and legislation he's voted for and all that work stuff. But since he's the supposed leader of his party, or at least of his caucus in the House, he should make at least a minimal effort.