World's Fastest Press Conference (Maybe)

House Speaker John Boehner held a 56 second press conference on the fiscal cliff. Boehner took no questions from the media. Something tells me all is not well in Boehner's world right now.

Anyone have any idea what is the shortest press conference by a modern House Speaker.

Tim Geithner on the Fiscal Cliff

Secretary of Treasury Tim Geithner tells CNBC that the Obama administration will go over the fiscal cliff if taxes aren't increased on the top 2 percent.

Side note: it is interesting to see that Republicans are running away from their austerity deal they imposed on President Obama. The cuts are what Republicans previously agreed to. We now know that these cuts are too drastic and could lead to another recession. This is what is going on in Europe with failed austerity policies.

Tom Coburn Backs Tax Increases on the Rich

Sen. Tom Coburn splits from the Republican caucus on the fiscal cliff negotiations. Coburn told MSNBC that he supports tax increases on the rich.

"I know we have to raise revenue," the senator from Oklahoma told MSNBC. "I don't really care which way we do it. Actually, I would rather see rates go up than do it the other way, because it gaves us a greater chance to reform the tax code and broaden the base in the future."

Coburn has been the most grown-up of Senate Republicans on deficit reduction. Touching the Department of Defense budget has been taboo for conservatives. Coburn published a report detailing waste in military spending. One DoD item was "The 100-Year Starship Project." A conference was held asking "Did Jesus die for Klingons, too?" Coburn is wise enough to know money is better spent elsewhere.

Sen. Portman Protested at Townhall Meeting

I wrote earlier today that Congressional Republicans proposing cuts to Medicare and Medicaid is political suicide. Sen. Rob Portman experienced this first-hand at a townhall meeting. The protesters interrupted Portman's speech. I will give Portman credit for handling the protest with humor.

The townhall meeting was set-up by Fix The Debt. Fix the Debt was started by Fortune 500 CEOs pushing for entitlement cuts to pay for tax cuts. This wouldn't fix the debt. It would help the bottom line of Lloyd Blankfein, Goldman Sachs CEO, and Jamie Dimon, Chairman & CEO, JPMorgan Chase & Co. Blankfein and Dimon fail to mention that the bailouts of their banks didn't help the debt.

Quote of the Day: Fiscal Cliff Edition

"He talks, for example, about $800 billion worth of revenues, but he says he’s going to do that by lowering rates. And when you look at the math, it doesn’t work....If we're going to raise revenues that are sufficient to balance with the very tough cuts that we've already made, and the further reforms in entitlements that I'm prepared to make, we’re going to have to see the rates on the top two percent go up. And we’re not going to be able to get a deal without it."

President Barack Obama, on House Speaker John Boehner's fiscal cliff proposal.

The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities notes that Boehner that not say where he would cut $600 billion from Medicare and Medicaid. The CBPP notes that this level of cuts would be "draconian."

When the well-being of millions of Americans is at stake — as it is with major changes in Medicare and Medicaid — that shouldn’t be acceptable. If policymakers want to propose $600 billion in health care entitlement savings, as they have every right to do, they should show us the specific changes they would make to get there. Until they do, such proposals shouldn’t receive much credibility.

Mitt Romney ran on economic policy vagueness and drastic cuts to entitlements. The result was a general election loss. Democrats now know the recipe to beat Republicans on entitlements. Boehner and other Congressional Republicans are committing political suicide by going after Medicare. Establishment Republicans fail to understand that many in their base are elderly people on Medicare.

Side note: Boehner is so unserious that yesterday he offered a Bowles plan that does not exist has a counter-proposal.

Boehner Proposes Imaginary Bowles Plan

How unserious was House Speaker John Boehner's fiscal ceiling offer to President Obama today? Boehner proposed implementing the Erskine Bowles plan. Not to be confused with the Simpson-Bowles; the Bowles plan was allegedly proposed during Bowles his testimony to the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction. The only problem is that Bowles himself said no such plan exists.

Erskine Bowles

While I'm flattered the Speaker would call something "the Bowles plan," the approach outlined in the letter Speaker Boehner sent to the President does not represent the Simpson-Bowles plan, nor is it the Bowles plan. In my testimony before the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, I simply took the mid-point of the public offers put forward during the negotiations to demonstrate where I thought a deal could be reached at that time.

The Joint Select Committee failed to reach a deal, and circumstances have changed since then. It is up to negotiators to figure out where the middle ground is today. Every offer put forward brings us closer to a deal, but to reach an agreement, it will be necessary for both sides to move beyond their opening positions and reach agreement on a comprehensive plan which avoids the fiscal cliff and puts the debt on a clear downward path relative to the economy.

Boehner is literally proposing imaginary fiscal policy. This is the most powerful man in Congress.