No, Speaker Boehner. Some things have no pricetag
—————–
“President Barack Obama made a demand of House Speaker John Boehner near the end of their first White House meeting on the fiscal cliff: Raise the debt limit before year’s end.
Boehner responded: ‘There is a price for everything.’”
—————–
There is a price for everything. How lovely.
I’ll tell you what the price OUGHT to be: $223,500. That’s how much Boehner is paid each year by the taxpayers of this country to do his job. And as Boehner knows as well as anyone, a basic part of that job is ensuring that the government does not default on its debt.
Let’s be clear: Raising the debt ceiling does not authorize so much as a penny more in spending. It merely allows the Treasury to borrow the money to pay the bills that previous Congresses and presidents have already incurred. If Boehner can’t or won’t handle that basic responsibility, he needs to resign.
This is really amazing if you think about it. In the 18 times that the debt ceiling had to be raised under Ronald Reagan, did it ever once cross Speaker Tip O’Neill’s mind to tell the president that, well, “There is a price for everything”?
On one of the seven occasions in which the debt ceiling had to be raised under President Eisenhower, did Speaker Sam Rayburn ever sidle up and say “Ike, you know, there is a price for everything”?
No. It was unthinkable. Rayburn, O’Neill and other speakers were horse-traders at heart, but they were also patriots who understood that some things just aren’t negotiable commodities, and the full faith and credit of the United States is one of them. Even Newt Gingrich balked at playing that card. And why?
Because in effect, Boehner and his fellow House Republicans are threatening to do great damage to this country if their “price” is not paid. They’re trying to shake down the president of the United States, using the welfare of the country as their hostage.
“Splendid little country you have here. It would be a tragedy if anything were to happen to it.”
It’s no better than a husband trying to win an argument with his wife by threatening to do harm to one of their kids. “Leverage,” Boehner calls it. It’s despicable, and Obama ought to call his bluff.
– Jay Bookman
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572 comments Add your comment
JKL2
November 27th, 2012
11:25 pm
elections- expecting any demonstration of leadership from the one who is..well, we can hope, can’t we?
When obama said “forward” he was talking about his lemmings going over the fiscal cliff.
47%ers rule!
0311/8541/5811/1811/1801
November 27th, 2012
11:29 pm
Headline: “House committee chairs: All men… ”
People who have to register for selective service: All men…
barking frog
November 27th, 2012
11:32 pm
People who have to register for selective service: All men…
………………………………………………………
Men created that law.
0311/8541/5811/1811/1801
November 27th, 2012
11:34 pm
People drafted in all of America’s wars: All men…
0311/8541/5811/1811/1801
November 27th, 2012
11:34 pm
Draftee’s killed in all of America’s wars: All men …
0311/8541/5811/1811/1801
November 27th, 2012
11:36 pm
Exempted from selective service registration per the U.S. Supreme Court: All women…
JKL2
November 27th, 2012
11:40 pm
scout-
did you see this one? http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/27/women-in-combat-defense-department_n_2195462.html
Our friends at the ACLU are at it again.
barking frog
November 27th, 2012
11:44 pm
Exempted from selective service registration per the U.S. Supreme Court: All women…
………………………………………………..
supreme court was all men.
cmac
November 27th, 2012
11:46 pm
best way to get out of debt is to keep on spending money ….. makes sense!
getalife
November 27th, 2012
11:55 pm
Miles got a offer to coach Arkansas.
Johnny football for the Heisman for beating Alabama.
SEC will win it again.
The house selected all white old cons.
The gop will lose the house in the next election.
appleseed
November 28th, 2012
1:12 am
Boehner will never be President at any price.
Deege
November 28th, 2012
4:18 am
Boehner, and all members of House and Senate, are useless. They collect a huge salary, the best health insurance money can buy, and all kind of other perks and benefits. They take 9 vacations, or recesses per year, from doing nothing, yet they want to make cuts to Obamacare as a stipulation for debt ceiling deals, make cuts to Social Security and Medicare, that we paid for out of every paycheck throughout our work history. They also want to make cuts to food stamps (SNAP) and meals on wheels that a lot of needy people depend upon. It’s disgusting that we are paying for Boehner and his obstructive political friends to live high off the hog, who do not go without, but want everyone else to. They are all wealthy, but don’t want to pay the same percentage of taxes that the rest of us do. Too bad about them. What a nerve these bums have. They must be voted out of office in 2014. Time to take back the House. Here is a petition everyone might want to sign and send to their elected officials about this issue, and pass it on. Tell them to make cuts to their own perks and benefits first! http://www.petition2congress.com/7187/congress-senate-should-receive-cuts-to-their-benefits-not-needy/
Dick Heard
November 28th, 2012
5:49 am
Jay, you sound and act like a member of congress…..if you raise the debt ceiling you will be spending more money. If you raise the debt ceiling by $1 Trillion, if you can borrow the money at 1% interest, that’s $10 billion in new interest on top of the old interest added to the budget. $10 billion of new expense. Interest expense.
stands for decibels
November 28th, 2012
5:55 am
Durbin says no entitlement reform
Glad to see that mainstream Dems are (perhaps/it’s possible/guy-can-hope) finally getting their act together on this, and acting like Democrats instead of Gooper Lites.
weetamoe
November 28th, 2012
5:57 am
Do you know what the speaker meant by that one sentence? What is the context? This guy you call president has forfeited any sort of *respect* because rather than do his job he is doing everything he can to divide the country. He, not the speaker, is the leader. Rather than meet with House members, he traipses around the country sowing discord. It is the same *get in their faces* all over again. Funny you should attribute your paraphrase of the standard union thug shakedown comment *nice country you get here* to the speaker. Obama is the villain in this drama–that is his threat.
stands for decibels
November 28th, 2012
5:58 am
Another take on Durbin, emphasis mine:
Overall, Durbin tried to put a happy face on a grand bargain deal expressly to encourage the Professional Left in DC. Many of them came out of a meeting at the White House encouraged by the Democratic line as well. I think there’s a serious case of “trust but verify” needed here. And it should be noted that this is where the party is at before one minute of negotiation with the other side.
Corbin Sharpe. I think, therefore I am...I think.
November 28th, 2012
6:03 am
Good Wednesday morning all y’all! Go buy a lottery ticket today for a chance to become one of America’s elite…I did
Could this be one of our resident Obama haters?
http://cheezburger.com/6813483008
Joel Edge
November 28th, 2012
6:04 am
“and Obama ought to call his bluff.”
I agree, Jay. Go ahead, call his bluff. Then raise the debt ceiling again. Raise taxes, spend more, borrow more. Self correcting.
Fred ™
November 28th, 2012
6:40 am
Joel Edge
November 28th, 2012
6:04 am
“and Obama ought to call his bluff.”
I agree, Jay. Go ahead, call his bluff. Then raise the debt ceiling again. Raise taxes, spend more, borrow more. Self correcting.
++++++++++++++++++++++++
Worked for George Bush. What’s the difference?
Oh i see, the difference is your FOX puppet masters told you it was OK when Bush did it. Now suddenly it’s “bad.”
RB from Gwinnett
November 28th, 2012
6:59 am
“Worked for George Bush. What’s the difference?”
None. It was wrong when he did it and its still wrong.
Any more silly questions?
Corbin Sharpe. I think, therefore I am...I think.
November 28th, 2012
7:03 am
If we don’t raise the debt ceiling, then we will lose more of our world wide credit rating. This will affect not only our economy but the rest of the worlds too. How is causing a possible slide into world wide depression a good thing?
stands for decibels
November 28th, 2012
7:08 am
Raise taxes, spend more, borrow more
As we have done since Andrew Jackson left office. But now it’s a “crisis”.
stands for decibels
November 28th, 2012
7:09 am
If we don’t raise the debt ceiling, then we will lose more of our world wide credit rating.
Well, if CONGRESS doesn’t raise it, then the Executive branch will have to step in and assume powers it’s never claimed before, but the debt ceiling will be raised one way or another.
stands for decibels
November 28th, 2012
7:09 am
None. It was wrong when he did it
yeah, that’s what a lot of conservatives claimed after the 2006 mid-terms. Funny how we didn’t hear such things much until after that.
USinUK - not very ladylike (and former Girl Scout)
November 28th, 2012
7:12 am
http://www.ajc.com/news/news/local/man-accused-killing-teen-over-loud-music/nTGxX/
first skittles and a soda were threatening … now music …
I’m sure it has nothing to do that the teens murdered in both cases were not lilly-white.
USinUK - not very ladylike (and former Girl Scout)
November 28th, 2012
7:13 am
“Headline: “House committee chairs: All men… ”
People who have to register for selective service: All men”
are you effing KIDDING ME???
so, now because women aren’t drafted (which, by the way, I have no problem with), they shouldn’t hold leadership positions in Congress???
my god, Scout, your parents really did drop you on your head repeatedly.
USinUK - not very ladylike (and former Girl Scout)
November 28th, 2012
7:14 am
“But now it’s a “crisis”.”
bring on the fainting couch!!!
Granny Godzilla - Union Thugette
November 28th, 2012
7:17 am
‘There is a price for everything.’”
Really Speaker Boehner? Everything?
You included?
What’s your price John?
You know what they say, now that we know what you are
it’s simply a matter of setting a price.
TaxPayer
November 28th, 2012
7:24 am
If Congress does not raise the debt ceiling, then the President should, for the good of the country, step in and take action, starting with cuts to Congressional staff and Congress member’s salary and healthcare, and go from there. I think another of those Clinton-era showdowns is in order. Let’s do it.
USinUK - not very ladylike (and former Girl Scout)
November 28th, 2012
7:26 am
TaxPayer – 7:24 – word.
USinUK - not very ladylike (and former Girl Scout)
November 28th, 2012
7:29 am
Granny G – you forgot the most important point … that there is a price for LOSING. as in the GOP losing the presidential race and losing seats in the house.
Butch Cassidy (I)
November 28th, 2012
7:33 am
Interesting posts. If I read them correctly, those on the Right are accusing those on the Left of being “moochers” while at the same time advocating that the U.S. ignore it’s obligation to re-pay money that has already been borrowed and spent. Nice.
Corbin Sharpe. I think, therefore I am...I think.
November 28th, 2012
7:34 am
Could it be that the reason John cries so much is that he never gets his price?
Thomas Heyward Jr
November 28th, 2012
7:34 am
“Some things have no pricetag”
.
Bookman and the Progressive crew’s entire Statist Philosophy summed up in 5 words.
.
Good show.
.
Forward Soviet!
JamVet
November 28th, 2012
7:35 am
Priebus: It’s time for a ‘full autopsy’ of 2012
Mr. Priebus, move your base of far right wing fanatics towards the reasoned and reasonable center.
End your American version of fascism. i.e., no more War on Women, no more gay bashing, no more union busting and no more looking down you noses at other religions and ideas.
Get your rank and file neer-do-wells to realize that they are not in the 1% and that their insane, inexplicable self-destructive behavior is taking down millions of other working class Americans with them.
And for gawdsakes cease with all of the rampant anti-Americanism and Uncle Sam hating in your ranks.
Or don’t. And get thumped again.
Butch Cassidy (I)
November 28th, 2012
7:37 am
Thomas Heyward Jr. – “Bookman and the Progressive crew’s entire Statist Philosophy ”
So adhereing to the constitutional requirement that the United States honor it’s debts is “statist”? Interesting. How long have you hated America?
Tundra Dude
November 28th, 2012
7:38 am
Raise taxes, spend more, borrow more
As we have done since Andrew Jackson left office. But now it’s a “crisis”.
“The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed —
and thus clamorous to be led to safety —
by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary.”~H.L.Mencken
Thomas Heyward Jr
November 28th, 2012
7:40 am
Butch Cassidy (I)
November 28th, 2012
7:37 am
Thomas Heyward Jr. – “Bookman and the Progressive crew’s entire Statist Philosophy ”
So adhereing to the constitutional requirement that the United States honor it’s debts is “statist”? Interesting. How long have you hated America?
————————————————————————————-
.
So…there IS a price?
Stevie Ray..Clowns to the left and Jokers to the right..here I am...
November 28th, 2012
7:45 am
This is great…the discussions are in DC and the worshipped from this lot is out campaigning to, as we’ve come to expect, lay blame elsewhere..really?
http://www.thedailybeast.com/cheats/2012/11/28/team-obama-takes-on-fiscal-cliff.html
USinUK - not very ladylike (and former Girl Scout)
November 28th, 2012
7:46 am
“Bookman and the Progressive crew’s entire Statist Philosophy summed up in 5 words.”
Boehner is a “progressive / statist / Bookmaniac”???
interesting.
Stevie Ray..Clowns to the left and Jokers to the right..here I am...
November 28th, 2012
7:48 am
USinUK – not very ladylike (and former Girl Scout)
November 28th, 2012
7:29 am
I agree….it comes at a cost but that cost won’t be as much as we all think..not a lot has changed…meanwhile, your guy has won the election is out on a blame campaign…this is leadership? In that department BO is a putz.
Alex
November 28th, 2012
7:48 am
@Usin Uk: no there is not a price to loosing a coupla seats in the house, yes there is a price for loosing the presidency. They both have leverage:The pres oreders the meal, congress decides to pay,both need to play together to get the food.Boehner is looking ahead to 2014,with an occassional glance to 2012. and Congress will kick it down the road and this president will overplay his victory and history repeats itself……….The Dow will collapse and congress and the president will return to the table–bet on it!( not much, though)
Granny, mighty concrete interpretation of the Speakers words, Hope Fla. was warm…
@getalife, 25 million for 5 years, now THAT is a waste of money,stupid to pay football coaches that sum, stupid to pay hundreds of dollars to a game. If YOU have that kind of money available, YOU should pay higher taxes ( or anybody:dem or repub)
Good morning…
USinUK - not very ladylike (and former Girl Scout)
November 28th, 2012
7:50 am
“meanwhile, your guy has won the election is out on a blame campaign…this is leadership?”
you know what – putting the spotlight on the miscreants who are causing the problem IS leadership
Granny Godzilla - Union Thugette
November 28th, 2012
7:50 am
Alex
Concrete? Boehner?
Nah, lite cream cheese at best.
Everybody loves a schmear.
Stevie Ray..Clowns to the left and Jokers to the right..here I am...
November 28th, 2012
7:51 am
TaxPayer
November 28th, 2012
7:24 am
That’s a great idea…we get nothing in return for our tax dollars……sqeeze them all..
Corbin Sharpe. I think, therefore I am...I think.
November 28th, 2012
7:51 am
Stevie Ray,
That was an interesting read…and I say good for him. President Obama needs to go out and talk to the people. I have a series of old cassettes that are recordings of old Fireside Chats that FDR did. They are interesting to listen to, especially knowing the history of it all. FDR made himself a family member to a lot of folks with those chats…maybe President Obama can become a favorite first cousin with his chats…
USinUK - not very ladylike (and former Girl Scout)
November 28th, 2012
7:52 am
Alex – “@Usin Uk: no there is not a price to loosing a coupla seats in the house, yes there is a price for loosing the presidency.”
and I couldn’t disagree with you more – the public has seen the GOP agenda and has overwhelmingly said “no, thank you” – for the GOP to ignore that is to ignore the people and, thus, what this country was built on.
TaxPayer
November 28th, 2012
7:52 am
Meanwhile, Republicans continue their sore loser man march. Four More Years. Then perhaps we can convince Michelle Obama to run for President. Eight More Years. Republicans are trickling down their own legs at the prospect.
Granny Godzilla - Union Thugette
November 28th, 2012
7:52 am
Campaign On Mr. President!
Get out of D.C. and bring the discussion to the people.
WELL DONE.
USinUK - not very ladylike (and former Girl Scout)
November 28th, 2012
7:52 am
“Everybody loves a schmear.”
so many jokes.
so few of them appropriate.
Stevie Ray..Clowns to the left and Jokers to the right..here I am...
November 28th, 2012
7:55 am
USinUK – not very ladylike (and former Girl Scout)
November 28th, 2012
7:50 am
The “problem” as you alledge is only the tip of the iceberg…the deficit and debt are whats below the water…it took both parties a long time to create this mess….writing checks our wallets can’t cash..Your guy is all about the blame game…bet he wants to go over cliff for political gain in 2014…no different than GOP…none of them care about our problems…the cliff looms, BO on blame campaign…diplomat gets shot, BO goes on campaign…Putz on leadership..
Throw them all out..
Bill Tri
November 28th, 2012
7:56 am
Jay,
If our country was a business, we would have been bankrupt years ago. Thank you for putting nobility in borrowing money that our kids have to pay back, not us. The liberals are running our economy and nation into the ground, similar to how they did your newspaper. Say high to the 12 employees down there.
Alex
November 28th, 2012
7:57 am
@ Jamvet, with all do respect, you are a left wing fanatic, plain and simple;keep the fasciast stuff out and the shrill stuff and sit down at the table and discussion is availble. Fanatics on both sides just pull the country apart….Anti-american hating is more a function of the far left, but every country will have this type of behavior-free speach and all that-tolerate but not accept.
Ear of corn hat, please……
Stevie Ray..Clowns to the left and Jokers to the right..here I am...
November 28th, 2012
7:58 am
Corbin Sharpe. I think, therefore I am…I think.
November 28th, 2012
7:51 am
Talk to the people? It’s BS…he’s only interested in soundbites and camera shots and everyone knows it…except the rubes he will dazzle by showing up in their pizza shop. A fireside chat would be much preferable to this BS…
Granny Godzilla - Union Thugette
November 28th, 2012
8:03 am
Stevie
Why do you not want the American people involved in this discussion?
Seriously dude, what’s the problem with “we the people” getting involved in this discussion?
You some sort of communist or something?
Alex
November 28th, 2012
8:04 am
@ Corbin, in the age of the internet, campaigning again is a waste of time, LEADERSHIP is what this country needs and The pres needs to show some. victory laps, at this time are obnoxious, it’s been a month..
Cream Cheese, not surprised, glad it’s lite, those Fla. Bikinis can be noxious…
@USin UK, keep believing that ,and the left wing of the dems are going to be mighty sore in a few months, the country is split plain and simple, the glow of victory will fade and it will be business by numbers in Congress.Learn to play with others, Both sides need to PLAY nicely or they will both have to go home..
Escaped from Email Purgatory
November 28th, 2012
8:06 am
“They’re trying to shake down the president of the United States, using the welfare of the country as their hostage.”
Jeez Bookman. Get ahold of yourself, Mary. That’s a bit dramatic, don’t you think?
Isn’t this supposed to be a negotiation?
I guess not. According to you, Boehner should just accede to Obama’s demand to increase the debt ceiling [just this one more time, pretty please] unconditionally.
Didn’t Boehner and the GOP do that about five months ago?
Well, yeah. But that was before BHO won reelection. Reelection bought from a constituency beholden to entitlements. Entitlements that he increased dramatically during his first term.
I think BHO’s response after the last debt ceiling increase was to appoint a “super committee” to look into getting our fiscal house in order so he could hit the campaign trail. Another hollow and meaningless gesture from a man perfectly suited to make them.
And as it turns out, a committee of two – Simpson and Bowles – had already provided a blueprint for reducing the deficit. Unfortunately, that blueprint requires shared sacrifice – even from his bought constituency. So Obama ignored the plan like it was a Jacksonville Jaguars home game.
Legitimate deficit reduction is a political reality Obama shuns like an honest day’s work. He will continue to make the solution all about taxing the rich as long as that simple-minded and dishonest concept resonates with voters.
It’s a straw man that has served him well.
stands for decibels
November 28th, 2012
8:09 am
are you effing KIDDING ME???
UnU, that’s Scouty’s schtick. He thinks it’s ok to oppress wimmynz because men have been oppressed. That’s his answer to why all your vaginas and uteri are belong to us.
Granny Godzilla - Union Thugette
November 28th, 2012
8:11 am
Escaped from Email Purgatory
November 28th, 2012
8:06 am
.
.
.
People who don’t pay their bills are moochers.
You part of Mitt’s official 47%
Be a maker….not a taker dude.
stands for decibels
November 28th, 2012
8:11 am
A wise man told me yesterday that fretting about this “debt crisis” while close to 8% of Americans are still out of work is a little like discovering that the basement of your house is flooded and deciding what you really need to do is dust the furniture upstairs.
stands for decibels
November 28th, 2012
8:12 am
oh, and Taxby dead-tree edition SHEETZ.
JamVet
November 28th, 2012
8:17 am
alex, with all due respect, the differences between you and me could not be more stark.
And your new found sense of accommodation is humorous, transparent and pathetic.
You and your twisted ideology of yesteryear just got humiliated at the polls. AGAIN. (Ask Alan West and George Allen, among numerous others for confirmation.)
Occupy that. And go lick your wounds…
Alex
November 28th, 2012
8:17 am
@stands:vaginas and uteri: your eloquence is unrequitted, now go down to your flooded basement and start pumping
Advice to granny,as my son recently told me , “Dad , your too old to use “dude” ” Feel free to use groovy or split or far-out….
Alex
November 28th, 2012
8:20 am
But I like corn, the hats….
Absolutely correct in our difference and thank you for noting. Aw but the pathos, the pathos, our drama queen is back….
keep talking, keep writing, you’re VERY convincing…….
flagboy?
November 28th, 2012
8:34 am
It is sad that this is what passes for leadership from either side at the moment.
Sadder that others cheer it.
Mark
November 28th, 2012
11:31 am
“Let’s be clear: Raising the debt ceiling does not authorize so much as a penny more in spending. It merely allows the Treasury to borrow the money to pay the bills that previous Congresses and presidents have already incurred. If Boehner can’t or won’t handle that basic responsibility, he needs to resign.”
What a stupid sh*t you are. Boehner isn’t responsible for previous congresses creating nonsense like food stamps and Medicaid.
tom gambeski
November 28th, 2012
1:39 pm
Those damn previous Presidents and Congresses!!Especially Republicans.
They’re the problem and if i only we could get rid of them we could do what we want to do for our people,which is only hampered by that dastardly outdated Constitution of ours.
The solution is obvious ,tax the rich and spend ,and with a little income distribution ,walla!! our economic problems would be history.
Thank god for Keynesian economics the successes of that economic theory has proven it to be exactly the road we should take.
Jay,you should be able to explain how this form of economics has created the wealth needed to get those 25 million unemployed back to to work.
Rabbit
November 29th, 2012
6:45 am
“…when is enough debt enough?”
The debt ceiling issue is not about whether to spend money, it’s about paying what you’ve already promised to pay. Your question, Simple, should be, at what limit should government be allowed to obligate itself over and above expected revenue. Once obligated, the government is, well, obliged to pay.
roger
November 29th, 2012
10:48 am
Boehner and the alike need to be investigated for Un-American activities. Remarks like this only show the stupidity and egos of these innerloop idiots we have in Washingtion D.C.
‘Disapppointed’ Boehner calls on Obama to get serious on spending – The Hill « Ye Olde Soapbox
November 29th, 2012
1:17 pm
[...] No, Speaker Boehner. Some things have no pricetag (blogs.ajc.com) [...]
Daryl Colflesh
December 1st, 2012
6:45 am
Thanks for the update, Loui! Our American credit card has worked in the past … but we haven’t tried it for at least the past year. Thank you for the warning!
The other half of your brain.
December 3rd, 2012
11:54 am
Jay, We can only hope that the dems find a cliff and jump.