John Boehner claims Republicans will not vote to raise the debt ceiling without trillions of dollars in spending cuts
Much to the chagrin of the Democrats–and Barack Obama in particular–who have “urged” Republicans to not hold the debt ceiling hostage, John Boehner is claiming that the Republicans will not vote to raise the debt ceiling unless it is accompanied by trillions of dollars in spending cuts.
During a recent interview and after a meeting with Joe Biden, John Boehner said that he was optimistic a deal could be reached on the debt ceiling which would include “real spending cuts.” When pressed on what exactly he meant by “real spending cuts” this is what John Boehner replied:
“It is time to start talking about trillions” of dollars, instead of the billions and tens of billions debated in earlier budget battles this year.
Surely Democrats will claim that if the Republicans have their way and manage to trim trillions of spending dollars from the budget old people and poor people will die, and those that do not die will be relegated to eating dog food because this is what the Democrats do. When it comes to the issue of spending cuts the Democrats are nothing more than fear-mongers who will attempt to portray the Republicans as irresponsible, heartless bastards who would rather see people die than continue Washington’s out of control spending. But the fact is that if we do not do something about the deficit and spending we all will die an economic death when the economy collapses around us–this is not fear-mongering, it is the truth because we are currently on a path which is not sustainable.
We simply cannot continue down this path for much longer and hopefully Washington is finally going to get serious about this issue. Barack Obama is fond of telling the American people that we all must share in the sacrifice if we are to turn the economy around, but he is unwilling to cut funding on programs which many of his constituents benefit from. Where is that sacrifice Dear Leader?
By asking the Congress to raise the debt ceiling Barack Obama is admitting that he has failed to lead on the economy. But don’t take my word for it, this is what Barack Obama had to say when President Bush asked to have the debt ceiling raised in 2006:
The fact that we are here today to debate raising America’s debt limit is a sign of leadership failure. It is a sign that the U.S. Government can’t pay its own bills. It is a sign that we now depend on ongoing financial assistance from foreign countries to finance our Government’s reckless fiscal policies. … Increasing America’s debt weakens us domestically and internationally. Leadership means that “the buck stops here.” Instead, Washington is shifting the burden of bad choices today onto the backs of our children and grandchildren. America has a debt problem and a failure of leadership. Americans deserve better.
Using Barack Obama’s own words it seems that he has failed in his leadership so somebody needs to step up and lead us through this economic crisis and maybe, just maybe, John Boehner is the man to do it. John Boehner is the Speaker of the House and we all know that the House holds the purse strings; he is now in the unique position of bargaining to increase the United States borrowing limit and this is his chance to lead on this issue.
I wish I was as optimistic as John Boehner is but we have heard these promises from him as well as from the Republican party in the past only to be let down. All of these Washington politicians make bold and daring promises when they are running for office; the Republicans promised to cut $100 billion from this year’s budget, and Barack Obama promised to cut the deficit in half during his first term. The Republicans did not come close to cutting $100 billion from the budget, and when the accounting gimmicks are removed they cut virtually nothing, while Barack Obama has only increased the deficit in his first term.
Once they get into office they start to look at what they need to do in order to stay in office; they do this by sacrificing their promises for fear of repercussions. They put their re-election and their desire to remain in power ahead of the tough choices which must be made if we are to keep our country afloat. This is more than just being merely self-centered, it is dangerous to our very existence because America is on the verge of collapse and if there is nobody in Washington that has the balls to stand up and put the country ahead of personal gain than we have already lost, it is time to board up the windows and put a for sale sign on America because we will be going out of business.
It is time for John Boehner to stop crying his crocodile tears and stand up in the face of the criticism that is sure to come his way, in other words, it is time to lead. As I said above, I am not optimistic that a deal will be done which includes any real spending cuts because the Republicans have not shown me that they have what it takes to stand in the heat of withering public relations fire and do what is necessary to bring down the debt. I hope that I am wrong but we have heard this hype before.
America's Watchtower 
You’re right, we’ve heard this before. Hopefully the Republicans are more serious this time than they were with the continuing resolution.
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I hope so but I am not buying it. We have seen this before and until they show us otherwise I am afraid they will cave in on this also.
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Dunno, sounds to me like the crew of the titanic refusing to lower the lifeboats until promises are forthcoming about enhanced safety features on future construction.
Down the road, when the government has to pay higher interest rates on its securities because investors are leery of a nation that debates not honoring its obligations, however incurred, I hope the voters remember why even more dollars are going to service the debt.
Take good care and may God bless us all!
TGY
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I don’t think that merely debating the issue will have an effect on interest rates, but I could be wrong. In the end the ceiling will be raised, the only question is how much spending will we be able to cut?
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Dems learned that old people will die trick from watching the Tea Baggers in 10… and saw just how well it work for them
So as a Dem you can be sure I am heading to the retirement homes to say just that…
See you in 12…. when we send those same Tea Baggers back to the fringes they crawled in from and thanks some much for this Ryan Budget…. it will be the gift that keeps on giving… to the Dems.
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The Democrats have been using lines like this well before the Tea Baggers came along.
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What Steve says is true, the Democrats were pulling these kind of media stunts well before the Tea Party started coming into the picture. If you will, flash back to the debate over children’s health care insurance programs during the Bush administration. The Democrats went above and beyond the call of duty to make sure the public knew that Bush was wanting to cut the program. In reality, that was a complete falsehood, as President Bush was actually increasing the program’s funding, but just not to the level desired by the Democrats. As a result, he was castigated in the media for something that wasn’t even remotely true.
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Yes, people like Paula are either unaware of the past or are willingly forgetting it. The Democrats have been using these tactics for years.
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@Paula, I’m not sure how 35-40% of Americans can be called “fringe!” The last time I checked, polls showed greater support for the Tea Party movement than the GOP (aka “RINO”) party or the Dems. Dems finished last.
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Paula and her ilk like to portray the Tea Part as fringe because they are fearful of the effect the Tea Party can have in the upcoming elections. They try to marginalize the Tea Party in an effort to discourage people who are on the fence about joining it. It really shows how desperate they are becoming.
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Oh, and the Obama budget was openly mocked by the center-left economics journal The Economist. Similarly, they called him out as not having a clue about what to do about unemployment. They don’t like Republicans much (neither do I), but they have professional reputations to defend, and anyone paying attention wouldn’t defend Obama anymore than his policy twin, GWB. (Btw, how’s Bush 3-4-5, aka “Obama” working for you?)
For confused readers, I’m a libertarian having some fun!
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I also believe that Obama has no clue what to do about the economy and the fact that he is even thinking about raising taxes on anybody is all the proof that I need. You may be having a little fun, but I agree with you that Obama has continued many of the Bush policies he ran against during his campaign.
I consider myself a libertarian at heart and if the Republicans do not nominate a candidate I can fully back–another John McCain–I am fully prepared to vote thrid party even though I know it will ensure the re-election of Barack Obama.
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Paula, re: “Dems learned that old people will die trick from watching the Tea Baggers in 10… and saw just how well it work for them…”
Hmmm… lissee… 1996, Clinton says he wants to reduce the increase in Social Security payments from 12% to 6%. Newly elected Republican majority says they’ll increase SS 6.5%. Democratic party, including Clinton himself, start shreiking that the Republicans are CUTTING Ss, and want to kill old people and throw them out on the streets. (Only in Dem New Math does a cut in a rate of increase equal a CUT). And it wasn’t just a fringe of Democrats doing this… it was the Party heirarchy, including the President, and the entire news media. I remember a New York Times poll asking whether people supported the Republican plan to cut Social Security. SS wasn’t being cut at all, of course, it was going to be increased 6.5%, more than Clinton originally asked for, but this was pretty typical of the way the MSM treated the Republicans.
Yup… brand new idea by The TEA Party. Riiiiiiiiight…
Now go back to your cave.
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She conveniently forgets the past while trying to claim that the Tea Party was the first to engage in this type of fear mongering. I guess it is okay when the Dems resort to this tactic.
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I’m afraid I don’t have much comfidence i n
Boehner. Alos, I hope that young lady enjoys standing in-line at soup kitchens. Some how I doubt that is her cup of TEA.
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Soup kitchens=free governemnt handouts, somehow I do think that Paula would get in line without heistation.
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I hope you are wrong but I am afraid you are right. We need leaders with some backbone.
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Nobody hope I am wrong more than I do, but we have been led astray so many times in the past that they are going to have to prove to me that they actually mean what they say.
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Look, the way I see it we’re asking people intoxicated with power to cut their spending so we can contract the size of the federal monster they’re very much comfortable with. Whether it is Boehner or some other deck chair on the Titanic we call Washington DC, I have very little confidence that a solution can be found at the federal level. The solution I believe rest is local politics and grows from there. We have to change the politics of things on the local level before we can hope to effect change on the national level. That’s my two cents for what its worth Steve. @ Paula: We have to be willing to have an adult conversation on entitlement programs, if not they will all go bankrupt because they are simply unsustainable. Using scare tactics might be effective, but it’s not part of the solution it’s part of the problem and we can no longer afford to play these shallow political games.
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Great comment John! You are right, we are asking the people who created this problem in the first place to fix it and the truth is that they do not have our best interests at heart, they have their own. While the anser may lie at the local level I wonder if we have enough time left.
People like Paula are exactly to whom these politicians are playing to, and until we can convince Paula and her ilk otherwise they will continue to vote for whomever they think will give them the most “free” entitlements.
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I am reminded of your post from 4/2 with the xtranormal video. I think the girl who kept saying “I don’t care, Obama is awesome”, she really does exist!
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That video was pretty funny, but there are many people who are like that video out there, aren’t there?
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We’ll see how he does with this pledge. Better than Newt I hope.
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Yes we will, and I just have this bad feeling that we are going to be let down once again.
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Look Boehner says he wants trillions cut from the budget and so he will settle for billions cut. While a cut is a cut, I tend to agree with what you said that it is time to get serious about the deficit. The current level of this administrations spending (and the former for that matter) is unsustainable. It is time for us as American’s to grow up and face the reality of the situation. And I hope that Boehner stands firm when he says that he won’t compromise.
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Yes, this problem goes back years and is not exclusive to this regime, but we are reaching critical mass and the time to act is now. Boehner is starting with a number in the trillions and we all know that it will be negotiated down from there. The question is how far and John Boehner holds the answer there. I hope that he is serious about this issue because we are running out of time.
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” By asking the Congress to raise the debt ceiling Barack Obama is admitting that he has failed to lead on the economy. ” Shrub increased the debt ceiling SEVEN times. He was a big-time failure.
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I was not defending Bush, it was Barack Obama who claimed that Bush failed to lead because he raised the debt celing. Now that Obama is asking to raise the debt ceiling I was simply using his own words against him.
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