On ABC’s This Week, hosted by Martha Raddatz, Speaker of the House John Boehner appeared to downplay the problem of national debt while loudly proclaiming his wonderful relationship with President Obama. “The president and I, as I have made very clear, have a very good relationship. We’re open with each other. We’re honest with each other,” said Boehner.
“Do you trust President Obama?” Raddatz asked.
“Absolutely,” Boehner replied.
“Absolutely?” Raddatz emphasized.
“Absolutely,” Boehner repeated.
Framing Republicans as out-of-touch radicals, Raddatz then asked, “President Obama says these meetings are intended to find members of the common-sense caucus who he can make a deal with …. Are you not a member of the common-sense caucus?”
Boehner, falling for the trap, shot back, “I’m part of the common-sense caucus. We appreciate the outreach. We appreciate the engagement from the president. But it’s gonna take more than this if we’re serious about solving our problems.”
Then Boehner dropped the bombshell. Raddatz, after quoting President Obama saying we don’t have “an immediate crisis in terms of debt,” asked Boehner for his thoughts. And Boehner eagerly agreed: “We do not have an immediate debt crisis. But we all know that we have one looming …. It could be a year or two years, three years, four years. It’s not an immediate problem.” And then Boehner said he agreed with Obama on the immediacy of the problem.
With Republicans fighting tooth and nail to implement solutions necessary to reducing the national debt, Boehner’s language certainly undermines the public relations narrative set by conservatives. A House GOP aide angrily told Breitbart News today, “This undercuts the fight House conservatives have waged since 2010. Our efforts to prevent a debt crisis we will certainly face should never be minimized.”
Ben Shapiro is Editor-At-Large of Breitbart News and author of the book “Bullies: How the Left’s Culture of Fear and Intimidation Silences America” (Threshold Editions, January 8, 2013).
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.