Boehner demands ‘trillions’ in spending cuts in exchange for lifting debt ceiling

Source: Washington Post

NEW YORK — House Speaker John A. Boehner defined the GOP’s terms for raising the legal limit on government borrowing Monday, demanding that President Obama reduce spending by more than $2 trillion in exchange for an increase big enough to cover the nation’s bills through the end of next year.

Delivering a sermon on fiscal austerity to a Wall Street crowd clamoring for compromise on the debt limit, Boehner (Ohio) firmly rejected any effort to raise taxes. He also called on Democrats to engage in “honest conversations about how best to preserve Medicare,” signaling that House Republicans remain committed to restructuring at least some portions of the program.

And for the first time, he signaled that Republicans would come to the negotiating table with the expectation that the White House and Senate Democrats be prepared to discuss major reductions in federal spending — and enact them immediately. That’s a sharp shift from Republicans who just last week talked of finding “commonality” on less-ambitious measures.

“Without significant spending cuts and changes in the way we spend the American people’s money, there will be no increase in the debt limit. And the cuts should be greater than the accompanying increase in the debt limit that the president is given,” Boehner said in an address to the Economic Club of New York at a hotel in Midtown Manhattan. “We’re not talking about billions here. We should be talking about cuts in trillions if we’re serious about addressing America’s fiscal problems.”

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/boehner-might-outline-republicans-budget-demands-in-economic-club-speech/2011/05/09/AFCp22ZG_story.html?hpid=z1

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"Delivering a sermon on fiscal austerity..." I hope the Hell I didn't fry my keyboard with the coffee I spit all over it!
:rofl:

One can hardly forget the Ugly Truth that the Republicons caused our current fiscal crapout with their stoopid squandering war-mongering, billionaire bonus ways...

have been using for decades. Cut off welfare for the rich, in short,
and the deficits and national debt will be paid off, without making
the middle-class and poor suffer further deprivation and, even death.

Or should we continue to abet and enable the crimes of the super-rich
on the rest of our nation?

with the guts to call them out on this. The reason we have a Repugnant House is the campaign money they got from the Big Corporate Money Billions. The reason for the Great Recession is they have never paid so little since Eisenhower. Also the reason for shipping jobs overseas, the debt bubble, the Wall St bubble, the Economy bubble, all in search of higher returns because the Top Two Percent had no tax burden to incentivize them to put wealth to work in our nation.

And another reason the Repugnant house as well as the Tea Potty had so much campaign money is the Fascist corporatist leanings of Alito and Roberts IMHO.

See also

http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/daily-ticker/boehner-no-tax-hikes-pledge-completely-incomprehensible-ft-145656288.html%20;_ylt=AlWFoOFZ12Vq27LWl.Dy_H.7YWsA;_ylu=X3oDMTE2dHA2cmJwBHBvcwMxMQRzZWMDdG9wU3RvcmllcwRzbGsDYm9laG5lcnNub3Rh?sec=topStories&pos=8&asset=&ccode=

"Everything is on the table" when it comes to budget reform, including defense spending and entitlement programs, Boehner said. But tax hikes are "off the table," he pledged, because they would "wreak havoc on the economy" and further cripple job creation.

"It's extremely difficult for any outsider to judge the seriousness of these comments almost unbelievable to me," says Martin Wolf, chief economics commentator at The Financial Times. "Ruling out the reversal of tax cuts that occurred in previous administration seems to be completely inconsistent with the aim of tackling the underlying causes of the deficit."

Indeed, Boehner, who reiterated his remarks on NBC's The Today Show Tuesday morning, seems to be suffering from a bit of short-term memory loss: In addition to voting for the Bush tax cuts, the prescription drug benefit reform and funding for the wars in Iraq in Afghanistan — three major contributors to the deficit — Boehner's "lame duck" deal with President Obama to extend the Bush tax cuts and cut payroll taxes only further exacerbated America's fiscal woes.

"If they're going to persist in keeping all tax hikes off the table, obviously they're going to demand extreme cuts in entitlement programs and the defense budget," Wolf says. "It seems completely incomprehensible as a politically winning strategy."

Next!

Why can't we just destroy our rivals using our banks?

Cutting planned parenthood, pbs and other programs won't do squat. So let's see you propose destroying medicare and social security, since that is the only way you get to 'trillions'.

We will see how that plays out with the vast majority of voters who aren't kochroaches and t-baggers.

BOEHNER

...the Executive Branch doesn't possess the power to tell Congress to pay the electric bill, let alone decide how the Congress allocates funds or what a fiscal policy should look like. Telling the People that it is the Job and Responsibility of the President to write a spending bill is to tell the American People that the Imperial Presidency is a-0k, is BETTER than a-ok, its business as usual, nothing to see here, move along, Congress HAS no authority. To that I say, what an ass he is.

Some smart Democrat should really trek up to Wall Street, and say to them the following:
"If its a choice between raising your taxes and cutting Corp. welfare, OR NOT RAISING THE DEBT CEILING, which of those 2 things will you hate MORE?? (hint, one of them hurts Wall Street a lot more than the other...)"

Its a bluff. If I were an elected Dem. right now, I would start HAMMERING them on the need to raise taxes, Wall Street won't say squat, they KNOW what the stakes are.

No cuts in Trillions till taxes are raised! Go ahead, risk a default.

...that tax hikes are off the table, period. What a :dunce:!

or orange as it may be.

state/district can now be cut to the bone or eliminated. And, all future benefits not be extended to Ohio as part of Boehner's offer to restructure the debt. Such a nice gesture on behalf of the people of Ohio by the 8th District's Congressperson. (Sarcasm alert) Republicans need to be on record as to what they would cut so everyone sees they want to eliminate/privatize social security and medicare. If they won't say what, then assume its all programs in their home district/state.

and shot the country's WAD!

But sleep won't come/
The whole night through/
His orange ass/
Don't know what's true

(Sorry, my dad was a huge Hank Williams fan ;P)

The whole nite through,
His cheatin' heart,
Is made of Poo.

Who means anything starts to take them seriously on this it will do irreparable damage to our already low standing in the world. H is partaking in a game of brinkmanship that is totally irresponsible and childish. Time for the adults (if any) in the rethug party to step up to the plate.

Ahhhhhhhhhh, well...

Silly me what was I thinking?

These people are dangerous and very deliberate in proposing their self serving agenda. There seems to be no end in their boundless lack of vision and real ideas.

The serial arsonists have found the matches and some gasoline and are now intent on burning down what's left of the building....

The only thing I can say is that as bad as a US default on debt will be for many, many people there is ONE silver lining in it all - the Republican Party will be killed off forever by such an insane move. If the bomb-throwers and radicals that have hi-jacked that party insist on taking their "principles" to the mattresses on this, then they will forever be branded as the party that crashed the economy for good.

No raising taxes huh? And still the media and the talking head crowd take them seriously and treat them with even a modicum of respect? PLEASE! What the fuck happened to the concept of NOT negotiating with terrorists????? Its time to start calling a spade a spade and give the GOP their proper new moniker of bagmen for their financial owners.

Austerity IS coming you bastards....just NOT coming for the lower 99.5% to the exclusive benefit of the top 0.5%!!! You can pay your taxes and consider a civic duty and the price of admission to this particular civilization, or you can pack your shit and get the fuck out...choose.

Boehner Demands!!!!!

After running the economy into the ground under Bush
for 8 years now Boehner Brain DEMANDS!

Please retire and give your seat to someone
that puts People before Profit.

taxes the rich do not pay and military bases that need to be closed as well as a DoD budget that needs filleted.

Voila!! there, all the cuts that need to be made and we would be fine.