COMMENTARY | Despite Speaker of the House John Boehner, R-Ohio, claiming Republicans have backed down in debt talks, they still don't have a grip on reality. Instead of going for $4 trillion in deficit reductions over the next 10 years, Boehner and the Republicans are aiming for a proposal about half that. Boehner claims the White House won't go for larger reductions without raising taxes.
"I believe the best approach may be to focus on producing a smaller measure, based on the cuts identified in the Biden-led negotiations, that still meets our call for spending reforms and cuts greater than the amount of any debt limit increase," Boehner said in a released statement.
Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., reiterated the need for no tax increases. He sided with Boehner when it came to the present negotiations.
"It does not make sense for Americans to suffer under higher taxes in an economy like this. As the Speaker said, there is no way that the House of Representatives will support a tax increase," Cantor said, according to his website.
Despite the assertions the GOP is caving in to the White House's demands, their statements are still way off base. It doesn't make sense to focus on who to blame for the current situation, but Republicans need a reality check. Boehner's further comments need to be examined.
"Washington's spending problem has continuously created uncertainty among private-sector job creators. Instead of cutting spending and getting our fiscal house in order, the Democrats who run Washington want to increase taxes to pay for their out-of-control spending," Boehner said in a released statement.
There are two problems with Boehner's and Cantor's words. Cantor claims taxpayers don't need to suffer. Well, Americans have been suffering for 10 years of two wars to pay for, a housing bubble that burst and huge bailouts started by the George W. Bush plan during his eight years in office.
The other thing to take exception with is that Boehner doesn't seem to remember it was the "job creators" who helped produce this fiscal emergency in the United States. American home lenders went overboard and got drunk on making money quickly on a housing market when they allowed less-than-worthy citizens own homes on bad credit.
High gas prices at the same time didn't help consumer prices and Americans had a choice--pay for the gas to get to work or pay for a mortgage. In the end, they tried to just get to work but then ended up losing their jobs anyway. Big oil companies are still reaping the benefits of high gasoline prices.
The housing market and the jobs in America were dependent upon construction and property prices. The entire economy hasn't been the same since.
Boehner and Cantor are complaining to Democrats who run Washington. But it was Obama's predecessor, with Boehner as the leader of the GOP in the House, who ran the economy into the ground. The very same industry that creates jobs didn't care about Americans and just wanted to make a quick buck. It's time for them to pay. Job creators such as large banks and huge oil companies don't need to make any more money. They owe Americans who are suffering because of them.
Health care costs are also skyrocketing and high medical bills continue to plague Americans. Perhaps taxing health care, cigarette makers and alcohol distillers will help fill the U.S. Treasury in order to ease the pain of the United States.
It only makes sense.
William Browning is a research librarian specializing in U.S. politics. Born in St. Louis, Browning is active in local politics and served as a campaign volunteer for President Barack Obama and Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill.
