Democrats now in minority looking a lot like old GOP as they harp on high unemployment

Republicans do not believe that tax cuts are a form of spending, arguing that it is simply allowing taxpayers keep more of their own money. They further believe that over the mid- to long-term, tax cuts create more economic growth, leading to higher tax revenues.

Nonetheless, in the short term at the very least, tax cuts do decrease government revenues, widening the gap between what is coming into the Treasury’s coffers and that which is planned to go out in spending.

Pelosi said that under Democratic control, “deficit reduction has been a high priority for us.”

“It has been our mantra: pay as you go. Unfortunately that will be changed now,” she said.

Rep. Henry Cuellar, Texas Democrat, went so far as to claim that PAYGO had reduced borrowing from foreign lenders.

“This PAYGO rule is reining in spending, so we do not have to rely on countries like China to pay for our priorities like education or transportation,” Cuellar said.

But the Democrats’ praise for PAYGO ignored the fact that they repeatedly waived the rules when they were in the majority, often by calling the spending an emergency. The $290 billion 2007 Farm bill, the $150 billion stimulus bill signed by former President Bush in early 2008, and Obama’s $814 billion stimulus bill in early 2009 were all exempted from PAYGO.

Republican staff for Rep. Paul Ryan, the incoming House Budget Committee Chairman from Wisconsin, say that Democrats added $1.6 trillion in 2009 and 2010 to the deficit, despite PAYGO being the law.

Republicans said they did not think the Democrats’ strategy to turn their own sword back on them would work.

“It won’t be true,” said Michael Steel, a Boehner spokesman, of the Democrats’ claims.

Doug Heye, spokesman for the Republican National Committee, said that “usually, one looks at the message, but in this case, it’s also clear that the messenger is a problem.”

“After four years as Speaker, including two years when Washington was a single party town, Nancy Pelosi does not have the credibility to carry out her own arguments,” Heye said. “The fact that there has been zero change in the Democratic hierarchy demonstrates that they just don’t get it.”

When a Pelosi spokesman was asked whether they regarded their messaging as essentially a carbon copy of the GOP’s talking points over the last two years, he responded that it was “message discipline on [Democrats] part, that’s all.”

Pelosi will try Wednesday to stake a claim to fiscal responsibility and austerity when she speaks from the House floor before handing over the gavel to Boehner.

“Democrats will judge what comes before Congress by whether it creates jobs, strengthens our middle class, and reduces the deficit – not burdening future generations with debt,” she plans to say.

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