Posts in "John Boehner"

By Jason Cockrell at 10:24AM

Jul 29, 2011

'Get your ass in line': Boehner scolds Republicans for not being Democrats

"Get your ass in line," said Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-OH) to a caucus of Republican legislators. The speaker has become increasingly frustrated in recent days as the fabled debt ceiling looms ever closer and many Republicans in Congress refuse to support the bills that he and President Obama have hammered out in their private talks. It's no wonder he's mad -- Boehner is clearly dealing with personal insecurities over the size of his spending cuts. Just this past Tuesday he came under fire for trying to sell the Republicans a bill that would have cut a whopping one billion dollars from the roughly four trillion-dollar 2012 proposed budget. Yes, that's around 0.025%.

But while Congressional Republicans laugh at Boehner's tiny package of cuts, one has to wonder if even they understand the full gravity of the situation. As yet another nonsense proposal heads for a vote, rhetoric abounds regarding a 'default' if the debt ceiling is not raised. This default, of course, is every bit as mythological as the deep cuts Democrats imagine Boehner has proposed. In reality, federal revenues vastly exceed the cost of servicing the outstanding debt. A failure to raise the debt ceiling will not produce a default on the existing debt; it will only mean the government cannot go even deeper into debt.

Faux economists and sensationalist journalists imagine that failure to raise the debt ceiling would lower the government's credit rating. Nothing could be further from the truth. As long as creditors know the government is going deeper and deeper into debt every day, they are sure to be skeptical of its faith and credit. If instead the government stops going deeper into debt, confidence that the existing debt will be paid off would go up, not down!

House Republicans should remember that they were elected to fix the country's fiscal situation, not sell out to the President and the left-wing Democrats who added five trillion to the national debt since Obama took office. Do not put a higher burden on future generations; do not raise the debt ceiling.

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By Anthony Ardizzone at 2:06PM

Jul 14, 2011

Cut, Cap, Balance, and the GOP

With the Cut, Cap, and Balance Pledge continuing to climb the popularity ladder, a person's signature seems to show just who in fact is a conservative. Eight presidential candidates, four governors, twelve Senators, and thirty-six House members have already given their approval. Predictably, all of the signers are Republican.

Despite this fact, House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) have not signed. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor has gone on record opposing the Cut, Cap, and Balance Pledge. Some conservatives see it as going too far. Others see it as not going far enough. The latter opinion is held by Michele Bachmann (R-MN), the only serious GOP presidential contender not to have signed the pledge.

No matter one's personal opinion on the matter of the Cut, Cap, and Balance Pledge, it is important to see if it will truly have any impact. Will the pledge be a sign for things to come after 2012? Or is it merely a political tool used by so-called "conservatives" to broaden their electoral appeal to the Tea Party?

Ohio Liberty Groups Pressure Boehner on Spending

Reason.tv recently reported on the pressure Ohio tea party groups are putting on members of Congress, particularly Ohio’s own John Boehner, to bring federal government spending under control. At the head of this front is the Ohio Liberty Council, a grassroots organization made up of over sixty different liberty minded groups across the state, including both the University of Cincinnati and the Ohio State University chapters of YAL, the latter of which recently hosted the council’s March quarterly meeting in Columbus, featured in the video below.

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By Bonnie Kristian at 10:30AM

Feb 10, 2010

House Minority Leader Confuses the Constitution with the Declaration

Oh dear. House Minority Leader John Boehner has confused the Constitution with the Declaration of Independence -- while holding a Constitution in his hand, no less!

Rep. John Boehner of Ohio, the House minority leader, took the podium at a Republican rally, waved a document defiantly and declared:"This is my copy of the Constitution, and I'm going to stand here with the Founding Fathers who wrote in the Preamble, We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed with the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness " Mr. Boehner was encouraging participants to protest the pending House vote for health care reform by demanding their constitutional right to make medical decisions.

Pop quiz: What's wrong with this picture?

What's wrong is that the quote he cited is neither in a preamble or in the Constitution -- it's in the main text of the Declaration. Eesh...maybe we could have someone as House Minority Leader who actually knows the text of the Constitution he swore to uphold? (AHEM Ron Paul)

Wait, noooo....that's clearly too much to ask.

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By Bonnie Kristian at 9:34PM

Jun 9, 2009

H.R. 1207 Reaches 207 Cosponsors!

Ron Paul's bill to audit the Federal Reserve has now gathered over 200 cosponsors (the govtrack list isn't quite up to date as of this posting) from both sides of the aisle. Recent additions include:

Rep. David Dreier (R-CA) Rep. Steve King (R-IA) Rep. John Boehner (R-OH)** Rep. Ed Perlmutter (D-CO)* Rep. Chris Lee (R-NY)* Rep. Mike McIntyre (D-NC) Rep.