Speaker Boehner's Survey

House Speaker John Boehner's office has sent out this hysterical survey. We are to believe that House Republicans do not want to cut Medicare and Social Security.

Do you support House Republicans’ efforts to save critical programs like Social Security and Medicare from bankruptcy – and protect seniors from drastic benefit cuts?

Let's go back to the recent fiscal cliff negotiations.

As part of a broader budget deal, Boehner is still seeking more spending cuts than Obama has proposed, particularly in mandatory health care spending. Boehner has asked for a long-term increase in eligibility age for Medicare and for lower costs-of-living adjustments for Social Security.

Boehner and other Republicans are brazen in their lies. Social Security is not even in immediate trouble. Yet Boehner would rather make cuts to entitlements than actually address job creation.

Boehner continues to further the talking point that the Affordable Care Act will kill jobs.

10. As Republicans continue to press for ObamaCare’s repeal, do you support vigorous Congressional oversight to expose the impact of the law’s burdensome mandates and jobs-crushing tax hikes?

More people having access to health care will create a demand for more jobs in the health care industry. Amy Howell Hirt has a good article on health industry jobs that will see an increase in hiring because of the AFA. Republicans haven't been able to produce a nonpartisan study on how AFA will decrease jobs because none exists.

After the Bush years, Republicans are suddenly fiscal hawks.

5. Do you agree that spending cuts – not tax hikes – are key to solving our debt crisis?

The Congressional Budget Office released a report saying that deficit reduction has hurt the economic recovery.

“[E]conomic activity will expand slowly this year, with real GDP growing by just 1.4 percent,” according to CBO’s projections. “That slow growth reflects a combination of ongoing improvement in underlying economic factors and fiscal tightening that has already begun or is scheduled to occur-including the expiration of a 2 percentage-point cut in the Social Security payroll tax, an increase in tax rates on income above certain thresholds, and scheduled automatic reductions in federal spending. That subdued economic growth will limit businesses’ need to hire additional workers, thereby causing the unemployment rate to stay near 8 percent this year, CBO projects.”

Interest rates are near zero right now. The federal government can afford to borrow for stimulus funding. Without job growth the tax base and gdp will not grow. Without that the national debt will never be paid off. Boehner continues to preach trickle down Laffer curve nonsense.

Update: The Christian Science Monitor has a graph showing several health care jobs has the fastest growing industries. The Adam Smith rule about the free hand of the market doesn't really apply to health care. People get sick during good and bad economic times. People can't afford not to go without health care when they are seriously ill. Health care isn't the same has deciding whether or not you should shop at a cheaper grocery store. The demand for health care will always be there. The argument by Speaker Boehner and Gov. Rick Scott that the ACA will kill jobs is nonsense.