Americans got their first hint of what the new Republican Congress will focus on over the next two years yesterday: House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and incoming Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) sketched out their plan in a
Wall Street Journal op-ed.
We talked in some detail yesterday about some of the more
glaring problems with the new GOP vision, but Jon Chait
flagged an angle I’d overlooked.
Yes, it’s literally the same week as the election, Republican control of Congress won’t actually start until the new year, but already the top two GOP lawmakers have announced their plans to add $211 billion to the nation’s budget deficit.Boehner and McConnell have mentioned three proposals that have any significant fiscal effects:
1. “renewing our commitment to repeal ObamaCare.” The Congressional Budget Office
confirmed last year that repealing Obamacare would increase the budget deficit by $109 billion over a decade.
2. “a proposal to restore the traditional 40-hour definition of full-time employment.” The CBO
measured this, too. It would increase deficits by $73 billion over a decade.
3. Repeal the medical device tax (a proposal missing from the op-ed, but
reported to top the list of Congressional priorities). This would
increase the deficit by $29 billion over a decade.