CAF's Bll Scher makes what would be a very good point about the House GOP's new "cutgo" spending rule.
The House Republican leadership has announced it will enact two things immediately upon taking control of the House this week: a new "CutGo" rule to require revenue offsets for any increases in spending, and the repeal of the Affordable Care Act health reform law.
The Republicans might want to pass health reform repeal first.
Because if they install "CutGo" rules first, they won't be able to repeal health reform without also finding $1 trillion in spending cuts over the next two decades to make up for the taxpayer savings they'll be throwing away.
Which would have been the case had they not already blown a big ol' loophole in their own rule.
Under new rules drafted by House Republicans in an effort to bolster fiscal discipline, lawmakers must show how they will pay for legislation that increases the deficit. But a bill repealing the health care law would be explicitly exempted from that requirement.
The Congressional Budget Office has estimated that the health care overhaul will reduce deficits by more than $140 billion over 10 years, largely because new spending will be more than offset by new taxes and cutbacks in the growth of Medicare.
Brandishing the budget office estimate, Democrats, often branded as fiscally irresponsible, are prepared to slam the Republicans as hypocrites.
“In their first month, House Republicans will break one of their first promises,” Mr. Andrews said. “They will pass legislation that significantly increases the deficit. And they will ignore the impact on the deficit.”
Just to be clear, Republicans don't care about the deficit. They don't care about jobs. They don't care about the nation's future. They don't care about the American people, other than the extremely wealthy ones.
