House Speaker Delivers His Plan and Orange You Glad He Did

Cameras ready to capture John Boehner speech at AEI. Hope they can capture deep orange.

With the possible exception of Halloween pumpkins, nothing in DC is more associated with the color orange than Republican Speaker of the House John Boehner, he of the tan face that belies his can-get-cold Ohio roots.

Here are just some examples of that deep color association:

"President Obama is visiting the hometown of House Speaker John Boehner. Obama plans to give a speech and then visit the tanning bed that Boehner grew up in." -- Conan O'Brien

"The world's saddest tangerine." -- John Stewart

"John Boehner will be the new Speaker of the House. It is the highest elected office ever to be reached by an Orange-American." -- Daily Show correspondent Olivia Munn

"Rep. John Boehner is the new speaker of the House. Turn-ons include tax cuts and spray tans." -- Craig Ferguson

"Isn't fall in DC great? The colors are brown, gold, and orange. And that's just in John Boehner's face." -- David Letterman

"You know who Boehner is, right? He's the orange looking guy. See, for Republicans that counts as diversity." -- Jay Leno

So that's why I was so excited to finally encounter Speaker Boehner in person today. He was scheduled to deliver a speech entitled Resetting America's Economic Foundation at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) .  I had made the invited guest list and I had never seen an orange man.

But despite my fondness for many of the comedians above, the funny thing was that in person - on this particular day at least - John Boehner wasn't orange. He wasn't orange when he entered the packed room surrounded by aides and Secret Service agents. He wasn't orange as he sat in the front row listening to AEI President Arthur Brooks introduce him. And he wasn't orange during the 20 minutes he delivered his remarks which outlined 5 ways the emerging energy boom here in the United States offers America "a once-in-a-generation opportunity to resent its economic foundation by addressing the debt, reforming the tax code, fixing the legal system, reigning in excessive regulations, and strengthening the country's educational system to empower Americans and renew our country's future."

Boehner gets ready to speak: No orange here ...

... and Boehner speaking: Still no orange here either.

I looked; I really did. I wanted to see orange. But try as I might, there was no orange to be seen.

So what about Boehner's words? They seemed to please the heavily pro-Republican crowd that packed AEI. But not everyone thought Boehner was right. Here is what the progressive Think Progress group had to say about the remarks:

What Boehner Says: “Let’s fix the whole tax code. Make it pro-growth and pro-family. Bring down the rates for every American, clear out all the loopholes, allow people to do their taxes on two – yes, two – sheets of paper.”

What Boehner Does: The Speaker does not lay out any details of what kind of tax reform he supports, but a look at his support for the Ryan Budget plan is enough: it would raise taxes on middle class families by an average of $1,358 to pay for a $286,000 tax cut for millionaires. This isn’t just unfair—it’s a recipe for economic stagnation. A tax cut for the rich has no measurable effect on growth while a tax cut for everyone else actually does boost the economy.

What Boehner Says: “We have to solve our spending problem. For 53 of the last 60 years, we’ve spent more money than we’ve brought in…It is stealing from our kids and grandkids, robbing them of benefits they’ll never see and leaving them with burdens that are nearly impossible to repay.”

What Boehner Does: There are two sides to any budget deficit, spending and revenue, a reality Boehner has willfully ignored as Speaker. He famously refused a “Grand Bargain” with President Obama in 2011 that would have cut federal spending by $2.2 trillion because the President asked for $650 billion more in revenue and said in 2013 that “the talk about raising revenue is over.”

And speaking of robbing kids, it’s worth noting that Boehner has refused bills that would help state and local governments halt teacher layoffs.

What Boehner Says: “We’ve gotten to a point in America where litigation has become a first resort instead of a last. The costs are staggering: Americans are spending more per person on litigation than just about any other country, and it’s not even close. Our liability costs are more than 2.5 times the average level of Eurozone economies. Not something to be proud of.”

What Boehner Does:The Speaker should first take his own advice on frivolous lawsuits before he begins offering policy prescriptions on litigation. After all, he led the charge this summer to win approval of a resolution authorizing him to sue the Obama Administration for waiving the Affordable Care Act’s employer mandate. The lawsuit is the definition of frivolous—not only is it likely to lose, but Boehner doesn’t even support the employer mandate he is suing to enforce!

Extra! Extra! Read All About It

More on Speaker Boehner's AEI speech

• from Roll Call
• from The Hill
• And just in case you think I am mistaken you can check out Boehner's coloring (and his complete remarks) by viewing this YouTube clip.

Right Wing Speech Under Attack, McConnell Claims

Conservative Republicans, Tea Party supporters, and right-wing Evangelicals are under attack from the Obama administration and government bureaucrats who are trying to harass, stifle, and vilify all those who disagree with their liberal positions, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell charged today.

"There is a coordinated assault from groups on the left and a White House that is determined to shut up dissent," McConnell (R-Ken) said. "And just because McConnell is pulling the fire alarm doesn't mean there isn't a fire."

The Minority Leader said he didn't believe President Barack Obama was directly issuing orders for the attacks on conservatives, but added that the president didn't have to. "I don’t believe that the president ever actually picked up a phone and told someone over at the IRS to slow-walk those applications or audit anybody. But the truth is, he didn't have to. The president has been demonizing these people. The CEO has laid out the game plan," McConnell contended. "We have a president that simply can't accept the fact that the public is not going to applaud everything he does."

Following his 40-minute presentation at the conservative think tank American Enterprise Institute (AEI), an emotional supporter pleadingly asked McConnell if there weren't some way to impeach Obama for his actions.

"We need a thorough and complete investigation and let the facts take us where we are supposed to go," McConnell replied.

McConnell's remarks came just weeks after revelations that the federal Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has apparently been targeting Tea Party and political groups pushing conservative agendas by delaying their requests for tax-exempt status and ordering audits.

"There is a culture of intimidation," McConnell said. "They (leftists and bureaucrats ) are trying to vilify and harass anyone who has formed a group for conservative causes. The goal was to win at all costs. And that meant shutting up the the opposition. You can get an audit for questioning how the government is being run? The IRS is thumbing its nose at the American people. It's pure arrogance"

But McConnell contended that the IRS was not the only federal agency targeting conservatives. Others were using similar practices, he said. "It reflects a culture of intimidation that spreads throughout the government. They can make your life miserable and, even worse for Democracy, they can force you off the political playing field," he said.

Returning to the IRS, McConnell said he believed that the agency should be granting more, not fewer,   exemptions for social cause groups. "The government should not be in the business of micromanaging a status that should be relatively easy to obtain," he said.

McConnell proposed that the IRS targeting and similar incidents highlighted the biggest difference between the Democratic and Republican parties. "They are the party of government and we are the party of the private sector. This is what you get when you elect a government that thinks (more) government is the answer," he proposed.

"They (Democrats) are desperately trying to prove that nobody at the top was involved in these scandals, but the IRS (situation) puts the lie to all this posturing," McConnell said.

"It's clearly an uphill battle. But if we are to take these assaults one by one, I am confident we will beat them back. The only way to beat a bully is to fight back. Be wise to the ways of the left. Never give an inch on free speech," he added.

Tales, Tidbits, and Tips
Although McConnell declined to comment on NSA surveillance on private citizens, he did briefly discuss 2 issues he thought were related to the overall theme of threats to political free speech. Claiming that unions support government growth, McConnell said "I support unions in the private sector, but I question the appropriateness of unions in the public sector." McConnell also issued strong support for the Supreme Court's ruling on Citizens United, which determined that corporations people and allowed them to contribute unlimited amounts of support and money to political campaigns. "It is a good, fair decision of leveling the (political) playing field," he said. He claimed Democrats' calls for more disclosure of  campaign contributions were  attempts "to get their hands on the names of people who oppose them. Disclosure is nothing more than going after donors. These people were talking about the Koch brothers by name so much that you would think they were running for president."