President Barack Obama last week was promoting a set of substantive, bipartisan ideas to help boost the economy and lay a foundation for long-term growth.

Whether the proposals are sufficiently well-crafted should be the subject of a spirited back-and-forth before Congress settles on a plan to finally get the economy cooking again. Instead, we heard just one word in response from Republicans:

“No.”

“We don’t need more government stimulus spending,” said Speaker of the House John Boehner. “We need to end Washington Democrats’ out-of-control spending spree, stop their tax hikes and create jobs by eliminating the job-killing uncertainty that is hampering our small businesses.”

This is an almost comical inversion of reality. Each of Obama’s ideas — a national infrastructure bank, a big tax break for businesses that invest in new equipment, and an extension and expansion of the research and development tax credit desperately sought by Silicon Valley – has had substantial Republican support in the past.

Each has been supported by business groups and would provide far more clarity for businesses in the coming year. None could qualify as a “tax hike” under any known definition of the term.

But here’s the thing. Obama’s plans might work. And Republicans really don’t want anything to work, at least until after the fall election. The Democratic president might get credit, and the GOP might have to work harder to pull off the rout it expects in November.

It’s a sadly familiar pattern. A $30 billion bill to spur lending to small businesses – backed by those notorious tax-and-spend activists, the Chamber of Commerce – has been blocked by the GOP at the same time its members assail Democrats for ignoring the needs of, you guessed it, small business.

Even Obama’s final health care plan was based largely on ideas that originated with the right, as the president persisted in seeking bipartisan support – yet not a single Republican voted for it.

Congressional Republicans aren’t just rooting for failure, they’re working to achieve it. You have to wonder what they would support right now. Cancellation of all taxes would be a long shot.

Obama’s ideas are not perfect, and the nation would benefit from a reasoned discussion of their drawbacks.

Since Republicans are backtracking on all kinds of ideas they used to support, it’s time for them to be more specific about their own plans to jump-start the economy.

Voters deserve more than a one-word answer.