Boehner Learns About Obama's New 'Grand Bargain' on Jobs from...the Press

House Speaker John Boehner and President Barack Obama. (Getty Images)

The Obama administration on Tuesday offered Republicans a  “grand bargain” on job creation that would cut corporate tax rates and increase spending on federal jobs programs.

"I'm willing to work with Republicans on reforming our corporate tax code, as long as we use the money from transitioning to a simpler tax system for a significant investment in creating middle-class jobs," the president said to a crowd at an Amazon.com plant in Chattanooga, Tenn.

"That's the deal."

But according to Brendan Buck, spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner, Republicans first learned of the plan via the Associated Press:

[blackbirdpie url="https://twitter.com/Brendan_Buck/status/362210173256859648"]

Yes, Republicans didn’t know about the president’s “grand bargain” until the media had announced it.

But wait! There’s more!

White House officials claim they tried to tell Speaker Boehner about the bargain -- but they say no one returned their call.

Pause for a moment.

The Obama White House announced its "grand bargain" with Republicans before Republicans even knew about it?

Is this how things work in the nation's capital?

[blackbirdpie url="https://twitter.com/Chris_Moody/status/362245607353618433"]

[blackbirdpie url="https://twitter.com/gabrielmalor/status/362245979744894977"]

[blackbirdpie url="https://twitter.com/elisefoley/status/362246823898906624"]

[blackbirdpie url="https://twitter.com/DylanByers/status/362246988466618368"]

Once Republicans took a look at the president’s proposal, they rejected it.

The plan calls for more federal spending on so-called “jobs programs” and cuts to corporate tax rates.

“It’s just a further-left version of a widely panned plan he already proposed two years ago — this time, with extra goodies for tax-and-spend liberals,” said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) “The tax hike it includes is going to dampen any boost businesses might otherwise get to help our economy.”

Speaker Boehner said the plan is neither “grand” nor a “bargain.”

Meanwhile, Georgia Republican Sen. Johnny Isakson criticized the plan for trying to split corporate tax reform from individual rates.

"You can't do that," Sen. Isakson said. "That'll never fly."

Even Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said: "Everything should be negotiated, but certainly I'm not in support of it."

Naturally, the GOP is taking heat for rejecting the president’s “grand bargain”:

[blackbirdpie url="https://twitter.com/mmurraypolitics/status/362207397479055364"]

However, a few pundits believe the president's latest "bargain" with the GOP is designed specifically to make them appear unreasonable and uninterested in economic growth.

And considering the fact that there are no new ideas in the president's latest "grand bargain," this theory may not be that far off.

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Follow Becket Adams (@BecketAdams) on Twitter

This post has been updated.

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