Boehner's biggest disappointment
Tampa, Florida (CNN) - House Speaker John Boehner revealed the "greatest disappointment" during his time as the country's top Republican, in an interview for an upcoming CNN documentary.
"If I look back over the year and a half or so that I've been speaker, my greatest disappointment was that the president and I couldn't come to an agreement in solving our debt crisis," Boehner told CNN White House Correspondent Jessica Yellin for "Obama Revealed: The man, the president," set to air Monday.
- Follow the Ticker on Twitter: @PoliticalTicker
- Check out the CNN Electoral Map and Calculator and game out your own strategy for November.
President Barack Obama and the speaker worked together in an effort to negotiate a plan toward fiscal health in 2011, through a so-called "grand bargain," but the efforts ultimately ended in acrimony.
"I was willing to go down this path with him because it was the right thing to do for the country," Boehner said of their discussions that ended with both sides blaming the other for the deal's collapse.
Boehner, who is scheduled to address the Republican National Convention Tuesday, said he and the president "get along," but disagree about the role of government.
"While we like each other, there are times when we'd have, you know, a real disagreement," Boehner said.
At the time of the president's inauguration, the Ohio congressman said he was optimistic he could negotiate with Obama. And although the two have had little interaction since the well publicized breakdown of the debt deal, the speaker remains somewhat optimistic.
"Regardless of who's in the White House, I'm convinced that I can work with them and that I can find common ground to help move the country forward," Boehner said. "If that's the case, I'm ready, willing and able."
The impending fiscal cliff will be the first order of business facing the two men, should they both retain their positions. When asked if Boehner would place the first call to the president to launch a dialogue, Boehner said "He is president of the United States."
"Ah, we'll figure it out," he added.
- Watch more of House Speaker John Boehner's interview with CNN Chief White House Correspondent Jessica Yellin in "Obama Revealed: The man, the president" on CNN Monday at 8 p.m. ET.
anagram_kid
Clinton raised taxes, and guess what it worked. As for your remarks about contraception and abortion; you need to accept one or the other. Even if you have no need for contraception, other people do.
____
Clinton is nothing like Obama. He was a moderate and heck of a President – I voted for him twice. He raised taxes in 1993, he cut them in 1997. Flexability to do what was right for the country made the difference. I paid for contraception in college and it was $10 month but I sure did not expect anyone to pay for my choices – thats the difference. That Sandra Fluck nut job or whatever fluck her name is just one example of all the blatantly false, wrong, and outright idiotic themes for the DNC this year – $3K a year for contraception????
So, because you all couldn't come to an agreement, whose fault is it, yours, his or both? I bet you blame him, (Obama) because he disagreed with you? GOP does not take responsibility for their own actions. They really think they have all the answers and will not open their minds or hearts to be flexible for ALL THE PEOPLE.
All he and the rest of the Republicans have tried to do is make Obama a one – term president.That was their whole agenda from the day Obama was elected.They don't care about our country.All they care about is the party.
Mr. Boehner,
Our biggest disappointment is the fact that you could not bring your party to the table to work out issues that both parties could support. You may wish to blame the President or anyone else but truth be told, you, Rep. Canter and Sen. McConnell had you own agenda and you followed it continuously. From Jan. 20, 2009 until today you have done all you could to keep this country in a holding pattern. Your partisanship is there for all to see. You were on a panel which was televised and I listened very carefully to what you had to say. It seems that you all want to blame the Democrats and the President blut you are unwilling to take some of the blame.
Perhaps you need to reread the Constitution to understand that the United States is a country for all its people and not just conservative white men.
"I paid for contraception in college and it was $10 month but I sure did not expect anyone to pay for my choices – thats the difference. That Sandra Fluck nut job or whatever fluck her name is just one example of all the blatantly false, wrong, and outright idiotic themes for the DNC this year – $3K a year for contraception????'
Because you were insured and paying a co-pay. I guarantee you $3K per year is a reasonably conservative estimate for the cost if someone is prevented from obtaining insurance coverage to help with the cost. You've entirely missed the boat on the issue. Thanks for playing.
Boehner, you can work with anyone as long as they go along with everything you say. The moment they disagree with you, you stop all progress in Congress. One hell of a guy. Can't wait until Nancy gets the gavel again and Congress begins to do things again instead of sitting on its hands and grandstanding.
He's right. He's been one of the biggest disappointments in Washington. Can't control the Tea Party wackos. Can't bridge the partisan divide. In fact, he has made things much worse. Partnered with Mitch McConnell to tear down the country just to harm the President. Has the lowest Congressiona approval ratings of any Speaker in history.
somebody wrote:
Obama has no intention of cutting spending. He's decided to put the pedal to the metal and bankrupt the country as fast as possible. $6 TRILLION in debt over 4 short years. Obama's future vision of the USA is what you now see in Greece.
----------------------–
Obama has every intention of correcting our revenue problem. He raises taxes and balances the budget in a decade..
The Romney/Ryan Plan cuts revenue, which adds to the national debt, by an additional $5 trillion over the next decade and doesn't "balance the budget" for over 30 years. Not balancing for 30 years, is that what you call responsible fiscal policy? Do you know how much debt we would have under the Romney/Ryan Plan 30 years from now? None, because we would have long since went bankrupt and ceased to exist.