Less than a year after holding the US economy in hostage in the debt ceiling debate, Speaker John Boehner is threatening to do it again. Rep. Boehner said he'd use the next debt ceiling vote to insist on massive budget cuts to bring down the deficit.
“When the time comes, I will again insist on my simple principle of cuts and reforms greater than the debt limit increase,” Boehner said. “This is the only avenue I see right now to force the elected leadership of this country to solve our structural fiscal imbalance.”
Wednesday’s New York Times editorial calls out Speaker Boehner:
It clearly does not bother Speaker John Boehner that he pushed the United States to the brink of default last year. It does not matter that the deep spending cuts in the resolution he demanded to end that crisis will hurt economic growth. It does not even matter that the House he leads is determined now to break that agreement with even deeper cuts in vital programs.
On PoliticsNation Tuesday, Sen. Bernie Sanders says that Americans will be outraged by the brinkmanship.
“The Speaker of the House is saying that America isn’t going to pay its bills unless we make draconian cuts against the elderly, the sick, and the poor... We are in the mess we are in now because Boehner and his friends helped to deregulate Wall Street and drove us into this recession… what Boehner and his friends want to do is give more tax cuts to the people on top, and make massive cuts to the people who are barely hanging on financially. It’s morally outrageous and bad economic policy.”