Eye Recommend --- Boehner Explains the Battle of the Cliffs

BOEHNER EXPLAINS THE BATTLE OF THE CLIFFS,  by  Steve Benen -- http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2013/03/06/17209589-boehner-explains-the-battle-of-cliffs?lite

Earlier this week, House Speaker John Boehner tried to explain why the country seems to be careening from one fiscal crisis to another:  the problem is that President Obama won't reduce spending.  This has become the standard Republican excuse for everything that is stalled, wrong or not working in our government--the President is at fault.  Everything would be running smoothly if only the President would do things their way.

Mr. Benen does a nice job of pointing out how flawed this position is.  (The underlines are mine.)

"There are, of course, two glaring problems here.  The first is that President Obama has already cut spending by about $1.5 trillion, which is a heck of a lot more than Republican policymakers cut during the Bush/Cheney era when folks like Boehner simply put new expenses on the national credit card.  Obama has also offered hundreds of billions of dollars in additional cuts, as part of a bipartisan compromise, which the GOP refuses to consider.

The second is that disagreements over spending are not much of an excuse--Boehner's argument, in effect is, 'We'll stop hurting Americans the moment the president gives us what we want.'  The fact that the House Speaker doesn't see the flaws in saying this out loud is disconcerting.

What's more, Boehner wants 'the Senate to finally do their work,' which is to say, Boehner's House is still not will to do any work at all.  As the Speaker probably knows by now...most of the Senate already supports a compromise fiscal plan.  It would be finished were it not for a Republican filibuster, which prevents passage."

In all fairness, Senate Democrats had the chance to end their filibuster gridlock during the first few days of the 113th Congress and they failed to do so.  Now they are forced to live with the consequences while we wait for someone in Congress to stop acting like a petulant child and get in touch with their inner adult.