Boehner Response

A few weeks ago, with the “sequester” looming, I contacted Speaker Boehner and President Obama about their roles in resolving this fiscal issue. I got a message from Obama’s team that was very basic and dismissive. But from Speaker Boehner, I still got a general response, but one with a bit more substance. The message is below…

March 4, 2013

Dear Mr. Starnes:

Thank you for taking the time to contact me about President Obama’s “sequester.” It’s good to hear from you. With our national debt at $16 trillion (and rising) – and every American’s share of the debt at more than $52,000 – it’s long past time for Washington to get control of its spending problem. There’s a better, smarter way to do that than the president’s sequester. But so far, only Republicans in the House of Representatives have passed legislation to replace it. Here are some key points to keep in mind:

President Obama proposed and insisted on the sequester, yet he’s been far more interested in holding campaign-style rallies than urging his party in the Senate to find a solution. [READ MORE]

Republicans, on the other hand, have been working for 10 months to replace it. The Republican-led House passed a bill in May 2012! and again last December to replace the sequester with smarter spending cuts and reforms that will put us on a path to a balanced budget. [READ MORE]

Unfortunately, the Democratic-controlled Senate never voted on the House-passed bills, nor did they pass a bill of their own. They haven’t even passed a budget in four years. [READ MORE]

The president also threatened to veto any effort to replace his sequester unless it raised taxes. But he just got more than $600 billion in tax hikes earlier this year. [READ MORE]

And nobody should be talking about raising taxes when Wash! ington is wasting billions of tax dollars. For example, the FAA spends $500 million a year on consultants; the IRS runs a full-service TV studio for $4 million; the EPA has doled out $100 million to foreign governments. [READ MORE]

Government spending is the problem. And if President Obama were serious about replacing his sequester, he’d cancel his campaign events and urge his Senate to finally pass something. [READ MORE]

I hope this is helpful. If you have any further questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

Sincerely,

John A. Boehner