◼ BOEHNER: WHITE HOUSE INSISTED ON RAISING TAXES, MOVED GOALPOSTS - speaker.gov/ Press Release
House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) held a news conference at the Capitol this evening to talk about how the White House’s insistence on raising taxes led to a breakdown in discussions over increasing the debt limit. In a letter to colleagues, Boehner announced he would instead work with congressional leaders of both parties to pursue legislation that avoids default, reflects the will of the American people, and is consistent with the principles of the Cut, Cap, & Balance Act that passed the House with bipartisan support.
“The discussions we’ve had broke down for two reasons. First, they insisted on raising taxes. We had an agreement on a revenue number – a revenue number that we thought we could reach based on a flatter tax code with lower rates and a broader base that would produce more economic growth, more employees and more taxpayers, and a tax system that was more efficient in collecting the taxes that were due the federal government. Let me just say that the White House moved the goalposts. There was an agreement, until the President demanded $400 billion more, which was going to be nothing more than a tax increase on the American people. I can tell you Leader Cantor and I were very disappointed in this call for higher revenue. Second, they refused to get serious about cutting spending, and making the tough choices that are facing our country on entitlement reform. Listen, that’s the bottom line.”
BOEHNER: “NO ONE WANTS TO DEFAULT,” CONFIDENT HILL LEADERS CAN COME TOGETHER
“I want to be entirely clear: no one wants to default on the full faith and credit of the United States government. I am convinced that we will not. Starting tonight, I’ll be working with colleagues here in the Capitol – both the House and the Senate – to find a responsible path forward. And I have confidence that in the bipartisan leaders of the Congress that can come together and to ensure that we have an agreement that will allow the country to avoid default and meets the principles that we’ve outlined: the spending cuts that must be greater than the increase in the debt hike limit and no tax increases.”
BOEHNER: UNTIL RECENTLY, PRESIDENT SOUGHT A CLEAN DEBT LIMIT INCREASE; GOP PRINCIPLES HAVE BEEN CLEAR FROM THE OUTSET
“You know, until recently the president was demanding that the Congress increase the debt limit with no strings attached. As a matter of fact, the Treasury Secretary sent me a letter two days after we were sworn in in January demanding that we give him a clean increase in the debt limit. I immediately responded and told the Treasury Secretary that the American people would not tolerate a clean increase in the debt ceiling unless there were serious spending cuts attached and real reforms to the way we spend the American people's money. I went to New York City in May, gave a speech to the New York Economic Club, where I outlined the challenges we were facing and I made it clear that we would not increase the debt limit without cuts that exceeded that increase in the debt limit, that there would be no new taxes, and that there would be serious spending reforms put in place.”
BOEHNER: IF WHITE HOUSE WON’T GET SERIOUS, WE WILL
“I can tell you it’s not in the best interest of our country to raise taxes during this difficult economy, and it’s not in the best interests of the country to ignore the serious spending challenges we face. ... Now I want to say, this is a serious debate. It’s a debate about jobs, it’s about our economy, and frankly it’s also a big debate about the future of this country. ... Listen, it's time to get serious, and I’m confident that the bipartisan leaders here in the Congress can act. If the White House won't get serious, we will.”
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