Harsh words from Speaker of the House John Boehner Tuesday morning.
In a meeting with a small group of reporters, Boehner talked about how the president is unwilling to go against his party to deal with fiscal issues and entitlements.
“I think he’d like to deal with it (fiscal problems) but to do the kind of heavy lifting that needs to be done. I don’t think he’s got the guts to do it. He understands there is a spending problem. He understands that we need changes and reforms and we need to solve these problems,” Boehner said.
Congresswoman Nita Lowey, D-N.Y., responded to the speaker’s comments on Jansing & Co.
“The President had Republican and Democratic leadership in the room at the end of last year when the Republicans just stood up and walked out. I understand that they were this close to having a deal. So, I’m not quite sure what he’s talking about,” Lowey said. “Speaker Boehner can’t get the support of his party. I want to make it very clear—we did pass, bipartisan, the budget control act that cut $1.5 trillion dollars in both cuts and caps on future spending.”
Lowey continued to press about the sequester, a set of harsh automatic cuts that will take effect March 1st, without a plan from Congress.
“Speaker Boehner must understand that a sequester is deadly for the economy. Businesses can’t make decisions. It would mean furloughs for air traffic controllers, cuts in funding from the NIH, for breast cancer, for autism, for Alzheimer’s. It would mean food and safety inspectors would be furloughed. So, this position of Speaker Boehner doesn’t make any sense. We should sit down at the table, pass some more tough decisions. We’re adults, we were elected to make tough decisions and not just walk away and throw your hands up,” Lowey said.
Kristin Donnelly