# What is the Republican plan to fix our economy and why will it work? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [November 3, 2010, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-republican-plan-to-fix-our-economy-and-why-will-it-work/559354 "2010-11-03T18:04:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2010, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-republican-plan-to-fix-our-economy-and-why-will-it-work/559354/21 "2010-11-03T22:09:05Z")
> [@Sitnam](#): > > So what evidence can they (and by extension you) provide that this will work? The massive job creation that occured under Bush after the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts were passed. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2010, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-republican-plan-to-fix-our-economy-and-why-will-it-work/559354/22 "2010-11-03T22:18:18Z")
[http://thehill.com/blogs/on-the-money/budget/116295-savings-in-boehners-spending-cuts-would-be-canceled-by-tax-cut-extension](http://thehill.com/blogs/on-the-money/budget/116295-savings-in-boehners-spending-cuts-would-be-canceled-by-tax-cut-extension) > [@](#): > > Boehner also targeted spending identified by Republicans on the Budget Committee as items that could be eliminated immediately. > > The GOP spending cut package includes $266 billion in remaining stimulus funds that could be repealed and another $111 billion for reducing government employment, freezing federal worker pay, canceling unspent bailout funds and reforming mortgage guarantors Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. The amount of savings was estimated by Budget Committee Republicans in May, when they first proposed their plan. > > Boehner’s spending reductions would total more than $700 billion in savings beyond cuts that Democrats have proposed. But that’s also the approximate cost of extending the tax cuts for upper-income earners, meaning extending those tax cuts would wipe out those savings. Also Boehner has talked about raising the min. SS age to 65 and the full age to 70. however I think that is only for people 40 or younger. I have no idea what they will do to mandatory spending. Medicare, medicaid & SS. I don’t know if they’ll push to raise the ages to quality, increase copays, lower benefits, etc. Because mandatory spending is where all the money is, and if you aren’t willing to raise taxes then cutting spending is the only alternative to balance the budget. What happens to the tea party when the 2012 budget still has a 1 trillion deficit? ---
**Author:** ![Jas09](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d07c76/32.png) [@Jas09](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jas09)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2010, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-republican-plan-to-fix-our-economy-and-why-will-it-work/559354/23 "2010-11-03T22:20:28Z")
> [@Capitaine\_Zombie](#): > > Did they actually ran for elections with that slogan? If they did, the US is pretty much a unique country. No. But that is pretty much the explicit agenda of some members of the GOP that were elected last night (Rand Paul as an obvious example). They did explicitly run on the slogan of “reduce the size of the government”, for example. A very common phrase was “failed stimulus” and “government take-over of health care”. Or, as Ronald Reagan once put it “The nine most terrifying words in the English language are, ‘I’m from the government and I’m here to help.’”. The idea that the government is ineffective at best at effecting economic growth is a commonly-held belief in the US. ---
**Author:** ![Kolga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e56c9b/32.png) [@Kolga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolga)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2010, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-republican-plan-to-fix-our-economy-and-why-will-it-work/559354/24 "2010-11-03T22:26:10Z")
I heard part of a speech on NPR this morning in which Rand Paul stated that the government cannot (CANNOT) create jobs. Only businessmen and -women can create jobs. (no discussion of how government policies might assist those business owners). The Republicans plan will be to “cut taxes” and “cut spending.” Those are the constant talking points from now on about fixing the economy. Everything will fall under those two broad categories. Oh, and “reform regulations” came up, too. ---
**Author:** ![Jas09](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d07c76/32.png) [@Jas09](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jas09)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2010, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-republican-plan-to-fix-our-economy-and-why-will-it-work/559354/25 "2010-11-03T22:28:00Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > What happens to the tea party when the 2012 budget still has a 1 trillion deficit? Well, as I understand it that’s pretty much impossible. The only reason it’s so high this year is because of the stimulus (with high unemployment exacerbating). Assuming at least some of the Bush tax cuts are allowed to sunset (estate tax will certainly not remain 0, at a minimum), there will be revenue increases. Here’s an interesting graphic from earlier this year at the NY Times about budget projections ([Budget Forecasts, Compared With Reality - NYTimes.com](http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2010/02/02/us/politics/20100201-budget-porcupine-graphic.html)) - upshot being that a ton will depend on the economy. If unemployment drops the deficit will look much, much smaller. ---
**Author:** ![Capitaine\_Zombie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e95f7d/32.png) [@Capitaine\_Zombie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capitaine_Zombie)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2010, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-republican-plan-to-fix-our-economy-and-why-will-it-work/559354/26 "2010-11-03T22:29:26Z")
> [@Jas09](#): > > Or, as Ronald Reagan once put it “The nine most terrifying words in the English language are, ‘I’m from the government and I’m here to help.’”. You mean like right after a disaster, like Katrina? (Oh sorry, maybe that explains Katrina. Hmmm…) P.S: I meant “Did they actually **run** for elections with that slogan? If they did, the US is pretty much a unique country.” Big big mistake here. Bit drunk (or drank?) ---
**Author:** ![Jas09](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d07c76/32.png) [@Jas09](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jas09)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2010, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-republican-plan-to-fix-our-economy-and-why-will-it-work/559354/27 "2010-11-03T22:37:57Z")
> [@Capitaine\_Zombie](#): > > You mean like right after a disaster, like Katrina? (Oh sorry, maybe that explains Katrina. Hmmm…) Quite honestly, I have no idea what he meant - it always sounded like complete nonsense to me. But it’s a very popular saying amongst the portion of the GOP I’m referring to. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2010, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-republican-plan-to-fix-our-economy-and-why-will-it-work/559354/28 "2010-11-03T22:46:46Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > What happens to the tea party when the 2012 budget still has a 1 trillion deficit? They’ll come up with a new name, and Republicans will immediately start promising them tax cuts. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2010, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-republican-plan-to-fix-our-economy-and-why-will-it-work/559354/29 "2010-11-03T22:51:28Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > What happens to the tea party when the 2012 budget still has a 1 trillion deficit? They blame it on the liberals, naturally. > [@Jas09](#): > > Quite honestly, I have no idea what he meant - it always sounded like complete nonsense to me. > > But it’s a very popular saying amongst the portion of the GOP I’m referring to. They want people to think that the government is evil. The government after all the the only real source of power and protection the non-wealthy have; if they can be convinced to reject it, they become helpless prey for anyone richer, more numerous or otherwise more powerful than they are. Which is exactly what the Republicans want. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2010, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-republican-plan-to-fix-our-economy-and-why-will-it-work/559354/30 "2010-11-03T22:54:23Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > The massive job creation that occured under Bush after the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts were passed. [The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities](http://www.cbpp.org/cms/index.cfm?fa=view&id=1811) would seriously disagree. Do you contend that they are partisan hacks? ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2010, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-republican-plan-to-fix-our-economy-and-why-will-it-work/559354/31 "2010-11-03T22:57:17Z")
> [@Critical1](#): > > I have yet to see anything from the Republicans that even begins to resemble a plan. > lowering taxes on the rich just makes them richer or am I the only one who remembers “Trickle down economics”? I call it “Reaganomics” or “voodoo economics.” ---
**Author:** ![theR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/977dab/32.png) [@theR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/theR)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2010, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-republican-plan-to-fix-our-economy-and-why-will-it-work/559354/32 "2010-11-03T23:00:38Z")
> [@Jas09](#): > > Snark aside, here is the closest thing to a plan that has been provided: > > [http://www.roadmap.republicans.budget.house.gov/Plan/](http://www.roadmap.republicans.budget.house.gov/Plan/) > > Note that this is just one House member’s ideas, and many parts of it are obviously non-starters. Which, if you look at it, is essentially the same plan they’ve had for years. 1. Cut taxes 2. Reduce spending – they always say it’s in the plan but haven’t done it and won’t do it in the future except on a select few programs that help “the lazy” (poor) while inflating spending on the whole 3. Privatize more of government, like SS Honestly, can anyone tell me how the Ryan plan is anything significantly different from the above talking points the Republicans have had for years, the most significant of which they have never actually tried? ---
**Author:** ![Digital\_Stimulus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Digital\_Stimulus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_Stimulus)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2010, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-republican-plan-to-fix-our-economy-and-why-will-it-work/559354/33 "2010-11-03T23:25:40Z")
> [@Kolga](#): > > I heard part of a speech on NPR this morning in which Rand Paul stated that the government cannot (CANNOT) create jobs. Only businessmen and -women can create jobs. (no discussion of how government policies might assist those business owners). For a real-world counterpoint, see: [A big smooch for the stimulus bill](http://www.salon.com/technology/how_the_world_works/2010/10/29/a_big_smooch_for_the_stimulus_bill/index.html). ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2010, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-republican-plan-to-fix-our-economy-and-why-will-it-work/559354/34 "2010-11-04T00:36:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Did they actually ran for elections with that slogan? If they did, the US is pretty much a unique country. Sharon Angle gave a speech to her supporters that said that she wasn’t going to bring jobs to Nevada, and that that’s not what a senator is supposed to do. Then again, she also lost. ---
**Author:** ![erez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e47c2d/32.png) [@erez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erez)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2010, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-republican-plan-to-fix-our-economy-and-why-will-it-work/559354/35 "2010-11-04T00:41:54Z")
Yet another thread where butthurt statists display their laughable understanding of economics and of how businesses work… > [@Sitnam](#): > > [The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities](http://www.cbpp.org/cms/index.cfm?fa=view&id=1811) would seriously disagree. Do you contend that they are partisan hacks? Fail. “Acording to New York Times reporter Matt Bai, CBPP is funded by the Democracy Alliance. According to Bai’s account, representatives of CBPP attended a May 2006 meeting of the Democracy Alliance to “talk about the agendas they were busy crafting that would catapult Democratic politics into the economic future.”[4]” (Wikipedia) ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2010, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-republican-plan-to-fix-our-economy-and-why-will-it-work/559354/36 "2010-11-04T01:00:04Z")
> [@erez](#): > > Yet another thread where butthurt statists display their laughable understanding of economics and of how businesses work… Are you implying that the Republicans _aren’t_ “statists”? Because they most certainly are; they just want to regulate people’s speech and bedrooms and religion instead of regulating corporations. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2010, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-republican-plan-to-fix-our-economy-and-why-will-it-work/559354/37 "2010-11-04T01:12:30Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > As said, their “plan” is to cut taxes for the rich. They don’t actually _care_ about the economy or the welfare of the country in general. They’ve demonstrated that quite clearly; they just look at the nation as something to lord it over and to loot. Besides, the wealthy are better off in a bad economy; desperate people are more willing to put up with terrible conditions, bad treatment and low pay in return for a job, any job. In return for helping elect people they incorrectly think are on their side, you mean. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2010, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-republican-plan-to-fix-our-economy-and-why-will-it-work/559354/38 "2010-11-04T01:12:36Z")
I hope they don’t have a plan. Government can’t “fix” the economy. The economy is going to have to fix itself, which I’m confident it will do. So the Dems and Pubs can argue for the next 2 years about how it “fix” the economy, and during the time those of who actually work in the economy will fix it. ---
**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2010, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-republican-plan-to-fix-our-economy-and-why-will-it-work/559354/39 "2010-11-04T01:20:46Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > They blame it on the liberals, naturally. > > They want people to think that the government is evil. The government after all the the only real source of power and protection the non-wealthy have; if they can be convinced to reject it, they become helpless prey for anyone richer, more numerous or otherwise more powerful than they are. Which is exactly what the Republicans want. I know you do not think particularly highly of religions but churches do help the poor in many ways. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2010, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-republican-plan-to-fix-our-economy-and-why-will-it-work/559354/40 "2010-11-04T01:44:52Z")
Der has a deep and abiding respect for religious people and institutions. Its why we call him Father Guido Sardonic. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-republican-plan-to-fix-our-economy-and-why-will-it-work/559354.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-republican-plan-to-fix-our-economy-and-why-will-it-work/559354.md?page=3)