Report from the GOP Whip Team bloggers' teleconference

"'Just say no' is the right advice to give your teenagers about drugs. It is not an acceptable response to whatever economic policy is proposed by the other party."
Barack Obama, March 17, 2009.

The main takeway I got from this afternoon's Republican Whip Team Blogger Conference is that the GOP has a plan, and it will be unveiled on Capitol Hill 9:30am Eastern Time tomorrow.

For the first time I was able to participate in the bi-weekly bloggers' teleconference hosted by Chief Deputy Republican Whip Kevin McCarthy of California.

Also taking part were his fellow Californian John Campbell, as well as Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-NC), and Paul Ryan (R-WI)--each of them members of the House Budget Committee.

Campbell spoke first, he called Obama's fiscal policy "a spending orgy." He added, "You have to increase every single federal tax by 30 percent...all of them" to come close to balancing the Obama budget."

And of course there are a lot of federal taxes.

Ryan rhetorically asked, "Is the president solving this crisis? I'd say no. The president is exploiting this crisis." He added that Obama has in mind "(bringing forth the third and final great wave of progressivism built upon the New Deal and the Great Society."

Hmm...I don't remember Obama promising that during the presidential campaign.

Ryan continued by stating "I don't know what we're going to call this particular wave, but it is to bring sweeping transformation to the federal government the likes of which have not been seen since the New Deal. And that's not my language, but the language coming from the White House."

Ryan warns that Obama's plans will "crash our economy, debase our currency and permanently lower our standard of living."

McHenry called the Obama budget "a down payment for carbon tax and cap, and a down payment on socialized health care and government-rationed health care." He added that the budget will result in "massive tax increases."

The Obama budget, I was reminded this afternoon, is not inevitable. It can be stopped. And if enough Blue Dog Democrats stand up to Obama and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, it will be.

Another budget option, with specific numbers, will be revealed on Wednesday. And four Republican congressman promise that it won't "Just say no."

Oh, I almost forgot. The reps are enthusiastic about the next round of Nationwide Tea Parties.

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