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Boehner: Clean Debt Limit Would Be 'Unconditional Surrender' For GOP (updated)
Boehner: Clean Debt Limit Would Be 'Unconditional Surrender' For GOP
Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) said Tuesday afternoon that a "clean" debt ceiling increase, as Democrats are demanding, would amount to "unconditional surrender" for Republicans.
"At times like this, the American people expect their leaders to sit down and have a conversation. I want that conversation to occur now," he told reporters. "What the president said today was if there's unconditional surrender by Republicans, he will sit down and talk to us. That's not the way our government works."
The Speaker refused to budge on the eighth day of the government shutdown on funding the government or averting default without preconditions.
"I didn't come down here to shut down the government," he said. "I certainly didn't come here to default on the debt."
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/boehner-clean-debt-limit-would-be-unconditional-surrender-for-gop
Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) said Tuesday afternoon that a "clean" debt ceiling increase, as Democrats are demanding, would amount to "unconditional surrender" for Republicans.
"At times like this, the American people expect their leaders to sit down and have a conversation. I want that conversation to occur now," he told reporters. "What the president said today was if there's unconditional surrender by Republicans, he will sit down and talk to us. That's not the way our government works."
The Speaker refused to budge on the eighth day of the government shutdown on funding the government or averting default without preconditions.
"I didn't come down here to shut down the government," he said. "I certainly didn't come here to default on the debt."
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/boehner-clean-debt-limit-would-be-unconditional-surrender-for-gop
Note: The Senate already passed a compromise CR.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023809001#post5
Updated to add this tweet:
Brian Beutler?@brianbeutler
Unconditional surrender has bipartisan House and Senate majorities, btw.
https://twitter.com/brianbeutler/status/387678999251812352
Unconditional surrender has bipartisan House and Senate majorities, btw.
https://twitter.com/brianbeutler/status/387678999251812352
h/t highplainsdem
Republicans are not playing by the rules, they're abusing their power
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023808698
John Boehner: Worst. Speaker. Ever.
Mr. Tears is a clown.
A failure for the ages
By Steve Benen
I find it relatively easy to feel sorry for House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio). He's weak and inept, but most of the ridiculous things that happen among House Republicans aren't by Boehner's design. The Speaker didn't want the 2011 debt-ceiling crisis; he didn't to hold several dozen votes to repeal the Affordable Care Act; and he didn't want the government shutdown he forced last night. They're all the result of a radicalized caucus he doesn't control, want, or influence.
But Jonathan Cohn makes the case that what Boehner needs isn't pity; it's blame.
As he's proven, leading isn't Boehner's principle goal. The Speaker wants to hang on to his power, his nice office, and his lovely gavel, and if that means going out of his way to placate extremists so they don't get mad at him, so be it.
That might be pathetic, but it's also the foundation of his job security.
Indeed, in the larger context, it seems the political mainstream is still coming to terms with a dynamic for which there is no modern precedent: a Speaker of the House with no power, no backbone, no accomplishments, and no prospects for success. Boehner isn't just failing in basic tasks, he's failing as Speaker at a historic level.
- more -
http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2013/10/01/20772599-a-failure-for-the-ages
By Steve Benen
I find it relatively easy to feel sorry for House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio). He's weak and inept, but most of the ridiculous things that happen among House Republicans aren't by Boehner's design. The Speaker didn't want the 2011 debt-ceiling crisis; he didn't to hold several dozen votes to repeal the Affordable Care Act; and he didn't want the government shutdown he forced last night. They're all the result of a radicalized caucus he doesn't control, want, or influence.
But Jonathan Cohn makes the case that what Boehner needs isn't pity; it's blame.
He's in a difficult position, for sure, but it's partly one of his own making. Sometimes leadership means telling followers what they can and can't do. In this case, that should have meant telling Tea Party Republicans they can't get rid of Obamacare, because it became law, was upheld by the Supreme Court, and validated by a presidential election. Boehner tried to say something along those lines after the election, but conservatives howled and -- as usual -- he backed down, promising the right they'd get their chance. Now they expect it to happen.
It won't. And at some point Boehner needs to say so. It will mean taking political risks, but that's what leaders do.
As he's proven, leading isn't Boehner's principle goal. The Speaker wants to hang on to his power, his nice office, and his lovely gavel, and if that means going out of his way to placate extremists so they don't get mad at him, so be it.
That might be pathetic, but it's also the foundation of his job security.
Indeed, in the larger context, it seems the political mainstream is still coming to terms with a dynamic for which there is no modern precedent: a Speaker of the House with no power, no backbone, no accomplishments, and no prospects for success. Boehner isn't just failing in basic tasks, he's failing as Speaker at a historic level.
- more -
http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2013/10/01/20772599-a-failure-for-the-ages
17 replies
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