House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) took to Fox News Sunday to counter Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner’s fiscal showdown proposals, claiming, “We’re nowhere — period. We’re nowhere.”
But when host Chris Wallace started to press Boehner about specific aspects of the GOP’s counter plan, Boehner avoided any details and refused to say which tax deductions Republicans could cap or eliminate:
WALLACE: What is the biggest proposal you’ put on the table since the election in terms of raising revenue from closing loopholes and deductions?
BOEHNER: You can cap. There are a lot of different ways but you can cap deductions at a percent of income. One way to get there. You can eliminate certain deductions for those, the wealthiest in our country. You could do all of that.
WALLACE: Let me ask you a couple of specifics: would you eliminate or lower the home mortgage deduction?
BOEHNER: There are lots of ways to get out there, there are lots of ways to debate or negotiate with you, but if you can sign the bill into law, I would be happy to.
WALLACE: … Charitable deductions? You are a big charity guy.
BOEHNER: The President has seen a lot of the options from us. There are a lot of them put on the table and I’m hopeful the conversations will continue.
Watch it:
Boehner is avoiding specifics, just as Republicans are recycling Rep. Paul Ryan’s (R-WI) budget plan — including voucherizing Medicare and significantly cutting Medicaid — which voters largely rejected when they re-elected President Obama. Wallace went on to press Boehner about whether Republicans will allow the economy to go “over the fiscal cliff,” and Boehner acknowledged, “There is a chance.”