Dear Congressman Boehner:
We know you are in a tough spot these days. President Obama is pressing his election mandate to get a bill passed NOW that would eliminate tax hikes on the 98% of Americans making less than $250,000 per year, while your membership is insisting that they will only agree if the nation's millionaires and billionaires are given the same protection.
And, the other side of your conundrum is that you have to come up with an agreeable package of spending cuts that will help reduce the nation's debt....always a huge goal of the GOP, except when you want to start wars somewhere and don't feel like paying for them.
So far, you and your party's failed Presidential candidates have been trying the old "We'll reduce government inefficiencies" ploy. Unfortunately, both the President and the public have been asking a really tough question..."OK...tell us WHAT you want to cut." To date, we haven't seen anything that gives us any confidence, especially when it is pretty clear that what you want to cut is entitlement programs which have greatest benefit for the poor and the middle class.
On the tax side, you are pretty much screwed. The longer your party keeps insisting on protecting the fortunes of the super rich and blocking tax relief for nearly all of America, the more your ratings go into the tank. This is not good, especially when your ratings after the last election are in the toilet. You can twist and turn all you want, but sooner or later, you are going to have to bite the bullet and give the President what he is insisting on.
So, to help you out of this box, let me offer three simple steps you and your members could take right NOW that will can save a half trillion dollars over the next decade: