John Boehner and anti-intellectualism: ‘I Don’t Need To See Numbers Or Listen To Economists’

In an interview with Chris Wallace on Fox News Sunday, John Boehner (R-Dipshit) argued against further stimulus and in favor of extending the Bush Tax Cuts For The Wealthy.

When Wallace showed Boehner GDP numbers indicating that the economic recovery is shrinking and stated that many economists were calling for more federal stimulus (the effects of which Boehner still waffles about), Boehner became blustery. When pressed by Wallace about the contradiction between the giant hole that an extension of the Bush Tax Cuts For The Wealthy would blow in the deficit and Boehner's self-described deficit hawk status, Boehner decided that facts are inconvenient things:

"Well, I don’t need to see GDP numbers or to listen to economists. All I need to do is listen to the American people, because they’ve been asking the question now for 18 months, “where are the jobs?”

(Later, to Wallace)
Chris, you’ve been in Washington too long because that’s all a bunch of Washington talk... This is the whole Washington mindset, all these CBO numbers,”

John Boehner

He then went on to add: "Yes, those pesky NUMBERS. Those are LIBERAL NUMBERS, bent on making us a socialist nation. As Republicans, we don't trust those Democrat numbers. Numbers lie. We go from the gut, we listen to the American people. Maybe in Washington they care about numbers, but in real America, we know that numbers lie. Stop being so naive, Chris."

OK, maybe he didn't say that, but he should have. Because it's what he meant.

Now he's going to try to hang the lack of jobs that his party has filibustered on Obama. and they're going to hang the economy, which is losing momentum for lack of further stimulus, on Obama despite the fact that it's the GOP who won't listen to numbers and facts and do the right thing. Cesca (h/t) points out: The Republicans have filibustered the jobs. And they've proposed solutions, like renewing the Bush tax cuts and cutting spending, that will sabotage economic growth.

Now Boehner is asking "Where are the jobs that we've done our damned best to kill in order to make the Kenyan Messiah a one-termer?"

Quoting ThinkProgress, this is "blind ideology". He'll oppose whatever Obama stands for. He no more cares about the direction of the country than he cares about the long-term effects of over-tanning.

By the way, can we all at least agree that the real pronunciation of his last name is actually "Boner"?