Press Staff Blog

The GOP out-of-touch quote of the day goes to Rep. Jeff Flake:

Representative Jeff Flake, an Arizona Republican who opposed the measure, complained the figure was $24 billion more than the party agreed to spend when it passed a 2012 budget in April.

“Why in the world would we add $24 billion?” Flake asked. “It’s a disaster.”

Exactly, Mr. Flake. There was a disaster.

A look at this morning’s headlines show divided House Republicans will need to work with Democrats on a bipartisan basis in order to pass a bill to fund the government and provide aid to those affected by recent disasters.

Politico: Vote shows Boehner's lack of control

“House Republicans tried a fresh strategy Wednesday night: Go it alone on a spending bill.”

“The result was an embarrassing setback.”

Add House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan to the growing list of Republicans who have compared Social Security to a Ponzi scheme.

As the Huffington Post reports:

Speaking on conservative radio on Tuesday, Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) agreed with Texas Gov. Rick Perry's (R) claim that Social Security is a "Ponzi scheme."

Bad news for House Republicans: a new Gallup poll shows Americans favor President Obama’s plan to reduce the deficit, create jobs, strengthen our entitlements and ensure all Americans pay their fair share.

From the poll:

Americans support Obama’s plan to pay for the American Jobs Act:

Wanted to be sure you saw this editorial in today’s New York Times on President Obama’s plan to reduce the deficit, create jobs, strengthen entitlements and ensure all Americans pay their fair share.

Key excerpts:

• The Treasury Department working paper they’ve referenced compares the first four years of tax changes.

Wanted to make sure you all saw the Washington Post's Fact-Checker on John Boehner's "misfire" on federal regulations. Turns out Boehner's claims on federal regulations contained "significant factual errors."

Judge for yourself, here.

Before House Republicans start dismissing the American Jobs Act, we hope they’ll check their math:

“Cantor said he was concerned that more than half of Obama’s proposal package ‘is so-called stimulus spending’ akin to the 2009 stimulus law that didn’t produce a sustained recovery from the recession. ‘We’ve been there, done that,’ Cantor told reporters today. ‘The country cannot afford more spending like a stimulus bill.’”