This is the link to Speaker John Boehner’s speech.  In his speech, Representative Boehner stated:

“Last week, the House passed such a plan, and with bipartisan support. It’s called the ‘Cut, Cap, and Balance’ Act. It CUTS and CAPS government spending and paves the way for a Balanced Budget Amendment to the Constitution, which we believe is the best way to stop Washington from spending money it doesn’t have. Before we even passed the bill in the House, the President said he would veto it. 

“I want you to know I made a sincere effort to work with the president to identify a path forward that would implement the principles of Cut, Cap, & Balance in a manner that could secure bipartisan support and be signed into law. I gave it my all. 

“Unfortunately, the president would not take yes for an answer. Even when we thought we might be close on an agreement, the president’s demands changed.”

I realize that Cut, Cap and Balance will probably never pass the current Senate or be signed into law by the current President, but it contains the elements that will allow America to begin to bring her debt under control.  I am hoping that the eventual deal that is worked out includes some serious real cuts in spending.  Unfortunately in the last spending bill passed by Congress, the spending cuts included a lot of accounting gimmicks that were not serious cuts.  Hopefully, the Republicans will not be fooled again. 

Speaker Boehner further points out:

“You see, there is no stalemate in Congress. The House has passed a bill to raise the debt limit with bipartisan support. And this week, while the Senate is struggling to pass a bill filled with phony accounting and Washington gimmicks, we will pass another bill – one that was developed with the support of the bipartisan leadership of the U.S. Senate. 

“Obviously, I expect that bill can and will pass the Senate, and be sent to the President for his signature. If the President signs it, the ‘crisis’ atmosphere he has created will simply disappear. The debt limit will be raised. Spending will be cut by more than one trillion dollars, and a serious, bipartisan committee of the Congress will begin the hard but necessary work of dealing with the tough challenges our nation faces. 

“The individuals doing this work will not be outsiders, but elected representatives of the people, doing the job they were elected to do as outlined in the Constitution. Those decisions should be made based on how they will affect people who are struggling to get a job, not how they affect some politician’s chances of getting reelected.”

A lot of what is going on in Washington right now has to do with the fact that there is an election in a little more than a year.  The actions of both parties need to be observed keeping that in mind.  My question at this point is, “What is the polling done by the White House showing?”  Does the White House believe they will gain a political advantage by shutting down the government and blaming Republicans?  Would the lack of agreement cause the President to declare that he can raise the debt ceiling unilaterally using the Fourteenth Amendment, thus sending the issue to the courts (where it would not be decided until it was no longer relevant)?  I truly wonder whether or not the President has decided that not solving this problem is in his best interest.