Thanks John for the Clarity

by Deacon Blues

No one can accuse the Republicans and their Tea Party base of being unclear about their intentions and what they want. They've been pretty clear, as evidenced by John Boehner once again today.

As you would expect, the GOP is misinterpreting Tuesday's results, when only a fraction of those who voted in 2008 turned out to vote two years later, as an indication of what all of America wants. Sure, it's a blatant lie, but to the victors go the spoils.

"There seems to be some denial on the part of the president and other Democratic leaders of the message that was sent by the American people," Boehner said today in an interview with ABC News' Diane Sawyer. "When you have the most historic election in over 60, 70 years, you would think the other party would understand that the American people have clearly repudiated the policies they've put forward in the last few years."

And again, in case Obama keeps talking about working with them on health care, Boehner is trying to make it easier for the president to understand.

"I'm pretty confident that come next year that we will have the votes to repeal that [health care] bill and replace it with common sense reforms to bring down the cost of health insurance and expand access," Boehner told Sawyer.

As I said yesterday, the GOP will come out very soon with its own health care agenda ahead of the frontal assault to repeal health care reform. In case the White House is still delusional, the GOP will use the budget process and any other means to undo what was passed earlier this year. Since the GOP's remedies focus on industry-defined "affordability" measures and expanding access, but not coverage, they'll do away with the individual mandate and anything that'll cost the industry money, and instead offer measures to maximize industry profits. And rather than focus on expanding coverage, they'll give the masses more access through funding community clinics for the little people, while the elite continue to benefit from our two-tier system. No one should be surprised by this, and congressional Democrats better be ready with their messaging built upon these distinctions.

However, Boehner's clarity today actually helps Democrats when it comes to the battles ahead.

"Let's get around to creating jobs again and staying focused on what the American people want us to focus on is my number one priority."

That's the criteria to defeat the agenda. If any tax cuts don't directly create jobs, by Boehner's own account they are off the table. If the GOP's proposed spending cuts aren't specifically what the American people want, they're off the table. Since the extension of the Bush-era tax cuts aren't supported by the American people, and since they add to the debt, they're off the table. Since eliminating the Department of Education and the EPA, cutting Social Security and Medicare, and letting banks run wild are not what the American public wanted Congress to focus on, they're off the table. See, the American people were never asked what spending and programs they wanted cut, and this is where extremism runs smack dab into a wall.

In other words, if it doesn't create jobs, and if the the American public (and not the crazy base) didn't specifically demand it, forget it.

Thanks John.