Boehner: Let the deficit debates begin
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/04/01/art.getty.boehner.jpg caption="House Minority Leader John Boehner proposed on Wednesday that the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility issue its final report two months early."]Washington (CNN) - Polls show that Americans are concerned about federal budget deficits. Now House Minority Leader John Boehner wants them to chew over possible solutions – before they vote in the midterm elections on November 2.
Boehner proposed Wednesday that the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, created by President Obama last month, issue its final report on October 1. That's two months earlier than the deadline set by Obama and, of course, a month before the midterms.
The 18-member debt commission has a huge task: It must suggest ways to start closing the gap between what Washington spends and what it collects in taxes. Democratic leaders on Capitol Hill have agreed to put the panel's recommendations up for votes before new lawmakers take office in early 2011.
So Boehner says it only makes sense that the commission should reveal its proposed fiscal solutions earlier "in order for the electorate to engage elected officials and candidates ... prior to the election." He also proposed that all commission meetings be held in public.
One problem with giving the panel a tighter leash: Time is already short. Only half of the panel members have been selected so far. Boehner, who gets to select three members, said on Wednesday that he isn't ready yet to make his picks.
Then there's the flat-out enormity of the commission's task. The deficits over the next decade are not considered sustainable and the longer-term forecasts paint an even grimmer picture.
And it remains unclear if Congress has the political will to make the difficult decisions that loom. When Obama named former Republican Sen. Alan Simpson and former Clinton White House chief of staff Erskine Bowles to head the panel, he said the men were "taking on the impossible" by stepping into such a difficult debate.
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Boehner wants to be "king" of Congress!!! He's working really hard to make sure everything fails so people will look at the Dems and blame them. I hope and pray people are smart enough to look at all the facts before casting their votes.
NC – You are so right!...but I digress.
So who is supposed to provide the report if it's March and he hasn't picked even 1 out of the 3???
This guy is SOO dumb!
The "Boner" is an idiot. Wish Ohio would get rid of him. Almost as bad as Demented from SC.
John Boehner and Mitch McConnell are absolutely people we need to do the opposite of what they say! How wrong can people get? Typical republiCANTS!
Too late, should think about it during Bush, Cheney ,Rove, and cie.
Debates?! The Repubs don't debate, they just mumble and grumble, hold up dumd-ass signs, and spew the Fox media talking points. The Dems can debate each other and actually get something done. Dems need to turn away from the party of "NO" progress. We all know Repubs only care about our President and our government failing.
The deficet is a result of having GEORGE BUSH and his henchmen (Rove, Cheney, Brownie, Wolfowitz, etc.,) at the helm for eight long and horrible years.
The ignorant 27% of the population who watch Fox media, support tea-baggers, believe in government death panels, think Sara is smart, think everyone should have a gun, think the only "good" religion is Christianity, think WASPs deserve to be in control of everything, think ................. actually they don't think at all do they?
Boehner was not worried when Bush was president as they rubber stamped everything bush wanted. The biggest tragedy was the Iraq war with the money they spent and the loss of lives. Look how many families he ruined. Everytihing Obama inherited was caused under the Bush administration so Boehner should retire and go to the tanning parlor everyday.
Boehner never has nothing positive to say about anything, if he is in front of the cameras is because the world is going to end tomorrow or soon enough, he is such a Joy killer, he is a black cloud over his head even when he is in bed.
I feel sorry for his family, very bad Karma type of guy, and he does not like black people.
How does he get re-elected?
Maybe we should've let the deficit debate beginning when back when we were invading Iraq? As opposed to now, when deficit spending is good for the economy and necessary.
If you lose your job, are you going to increase the amount you pay on your house or student loans every month? Or are you going to incur a little more debt to buy a new suit and get employed again. Republicans seem to think the former is the better way to go.