Boehner Pitches Two-Year Tax Freeze, Reduced Spending

House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) proposed on ABC’s “Good Morning America” Wednesday a two-year tax freeze on current U.S. tax rates, including the Bush tax cuts.

Boehner appeared on the show preluding remarks by President Barack Obama where he is scheduled to speak in the lawmaker’s hometown of Cleveland, Ohio pitching a trio of his own economic proposals. 

The Minority Leader called on the White House as being “out of touch” with the American people and proposed a reduction in next year’s spending to 2008 levels to compliment his tax freeze pitch. 

“If we’re able to do this together, I think we’ll show the American people that we understand what’s going on in the country and we’ll be able to get our economy moving again and get jobs growing in America,” Boehner said.

Boehner’s nationally televised remarks come on the heels of a New York Times Op-Ed submitted by Obama’s Director of the Office of Management and Budget Peter Orszag. In his article, Orszag endorsed the extension of the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest 2% of Americans for two years before letting them expire. Orszag said that letting the tax cuts expire too soon could deal a heavy blow to an already struggling jobs market.

“Let’s continue the tax cuts for two years but end them for good in 2013,” Orszag said.