Free Republic

House Speaker John Boehner said Tuesday that despite a toxic political climate in Washington and his deep ideological differences with President Barack Obama, the two "have a good personal relationship," even as he criticized the president's health-care plan and stewardship of the economy. The Ohio Republican also opened up about the GOP presidential field during an interview with TODAY’s Matt Lauer. “I’ve got a big job to do here in the Capitol,” he acknowledged. “Voters around the country who choose to vote in Republican primaries will pick one of these candidates. And whoever that candidate is, I will support.”

Statement by Speaker Boehner on Debt Limit DiscussionsHouse Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) released the following statement today regarding ongoing debt limit discussions with the White House: "Despite good-faith efforts to find common ground, the White House will not pursue a bigger debt reduction agreement without tax hikes. 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." Zero Hedge translation: in two weeks we get news of no...

<p>WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republican budget negotiators have abandoned plans to pursue a massive $4 trillion, 10-year deficit reduction package in the face of stiff GOP opposition to any plan that would increase taxes as part of the deal. House Speaker John Boehner informed President Barack Obama Saturday that a smaller agreement of about $2 trillion was more realistic.</p>

Only 59 of the 240+ House Republicans voted against this deal. It seems we have a long way to go. Boehner, whose staff will hang up on you if you call and ask him to take a stand against Obamacare, did get almost 80 democrats to vote for it though. What does that tell you?

“What happened to the campaign promise of $100 billion?” radio host Rush Limbaugh demanded Monday. “If $38 billion is it, there’s going to be hell to pay,” he predicted. At 12:40 last Saturday morning, 28 GOP House members voted against the deal that House Speaker John Boehner, Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid and President Obama had announced barely two hours earlier. Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann, Utah Rep. Jason Chaffetz, Texas Rep. Louis Gohmert, Iowa Rep. Steve King, Florida Rep. Connie Mack, Michigan Rep. Thaddeus McCotter and South Carolina Rep. Tim Scott were among the House’s 28 conservative GOP and pro-Tea...

Untouchable. That’s the treatment being given to the $23.6 billion being spent right now to implement Obamacare. This $23.6 billion is part of the $105.5 billion appropriated by the last Congress to fund Obamacare. The remainder (Think of it as post-dated checks for the other $81.9 billion.) automatically becomes available between now and FY2019. None of this is to be confused with an additional $115 billion authorized for additional appropriation to Obamacare—but which the current Congress is unlikely to provide. The most pressing question, however, is whether any of the current $23.6 billion will be rescinded as part of the...