We need to have a discussion about guns, and that doesn’t mean that all of a sudden we abandon the Second Amendment or the NRA [National Rifle Association] or anything like that. But there needs to be a discussion and everybody needs to participate and we need to depoliticize it.Speaker of the House John Boehner • During a closed-door meeting of Republicans to discuss gun control on Tuesday, according to an unidentified lawmaker who spoke to The Hill. The source also claims that Speaker Boehner told the assembled GOP members that “it’s not helpful” to call for the arming of teachers. Boehner promised not to agree to anything “knee-jerk”, but certainly appears willing to at least come to the table and discuss potential changes to American gun control laws for the first time. source
He Said What?!: With the threat continuing to loom over Washington, new reports suggest that President Obama and Speaker Boehner might be making some headway in their “fiscal cliff” negotiations. President Obama has allegedly agreed to consider conceding on Social Security cost-of-living increases in exchange for Speaker Boehner’s acceptance of tax hikes on the wealthiest Americans. If true, this might be the biggest compromise that either has made since taking office, though we suspect that neither will receive much support from their base. (Photo via US Department of Labor) source
We are not going to be able to come up with comprehensive tax reform package that gets it all done just in the next two weeks. We are not going to be able to come up with necessarily a comprehensive entitlement reform package that gets it all done in the next two weeks. When you look at what Ronald Reagan did back in 1986 working with Bill Bradley and others, that was a year-and-a-half process … Let’s essentially put a down payment on taxes. Let’s let taxes on upper-income folks go up.President Obama • Demanding an end to top-end Bush tax cuts during his first post-election interview with Bloomberg News’ Julianna Goldman. While he may have signaled some willingness to compromise, the President told Goldman that Republicans needed to give more, and that the most recent “fiscal cliff” proposal from Speaker Boehner was “still out of balance.” source
Just remember to extend those tax cuts costs $1tn dollars over 10 years. There is no way we can get back to a balanced plan that put us back on the path to living within our means, protects Medicare, invests in things we need, if you extend those tax cuts.Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner • Discussing the role of the Bush-era tax cuts in the current fiscal cliff crisis. The Obama administration’s continuing stance? For higher wage-earners, the cuts must go away. The Obama administration in general is pushing for ways to raise revenue to deal with the debut crisis. But don’t expect any assistance from House Speaker John Boehner, who says that if Obama gets the $1.6 trillion in revenue he’s looking to raise, “He’s going to spend it.” What do you guys think is going to happen with the fiscal cliff?
Democracy In (NSFW) Action: Naked protesters gathered inside of Speaker of the House John Boehner’s office today to voice their displeasure with potential “fiscal cliff” budget cuts that could target HIV/AIDS-funding. To our knowledge, Speaker Boehner has not commented on the incident at this time. Our hats off to the recently rebooted Digg for finding this one. source
Well that didn’t take long. Do you think the White House should have heard out House Republicans before shooting down Speaker Boehner’s idea?
We can’t afford [Obamacare], and we can’t afford to leave it intact. That’s why I’ve been clear that the law has to stay on the table as both parties discuss ways to solve our nation’s massive debt challenge.Speaker of the House John Boehner • In an opinion piece published by the Cincinnati Enquirer on Wednesday, revealing that the GOP isn’t quite ready to abandon the fight over The Affordable Care Act. The Ohio Republican has said, in no uncertain terms, that he expects President Obama to be willing to negotiate over some/all of the law’s provisions if a “fiscal cliff” deal is to be reached. source
I’ve spent the morning reading various endorsements of Mitt Romney for president, and they all say the same thing: Mitch McConnell and John Boehner’s strategy worked.Ezra Klein • In a new post on WonkBlog, commenting on a number of Romney endorsements that surprised him — most notably the Des Moines Register’s decision to endorse Mitt Romney, after endorsing the Democratic candidate in the previous five races. In his piece, Klein challenges the paper’s suggestion that President Obama was ineffective when dealing with Congress. He stops short of giving President Obama an endorsement, and recognizes the leadership abilities of Romney, but Klein is not unclear about his feelings on this particular line of logic. “There are good reasons to endorse Mitt Romney for president,” said Klein, adding, “But if you want the political system to work more smoothly, endorsing McConnell and Boehner’s strategy over the last four years is folly.”
ABC’s Diane Sawyer talks to Bob Woodward about his new book inside last summer’s debt ceiling crisis.
“It’s so serious that they couldn’t tell the world how bad it was at the time.”
Good interview; in it, you learn about Boehner’s chain-smoking and the seriousness of the issues Obama faced with the debt ceiling situation.
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![reuters:
House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi (L) applauds as Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-OH) reacts during an event posthumously awarding the Congressional Gold Medal to Capitol fresco painter Constantino Brumidi (1805-1880), “in recognition of his many artistic contributions to the United States Capitol” in the U.S. Capitol, Washington July 11, 2012. [REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque]
FULL FOCUS: The best Reuters images from the past 24 hours
He has something in his eye.](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m7247tMWOt1qmaoalo1_500.jpg)
House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi (L) applauds as Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-OH) reacts during an event posthumously awarding the Congressional Gold Medal to Capitol fresco painter Constantino Brumidi (1805-1880), “in recognition of his many artistic contributions to the United States Capitol” in the U.S. Capitol, Washington July 11, 2012. [REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque]
FULL FOCUS: The best Reuters images from the past 24 hours
He has something in his eye.
What’s more notable? The fact that the House of House of Representatives will initiate contempt proceedings against Eric Holder over Fast and Furious documents? Or the fact that a news outlet finally provided the correct pronunciation of John Boehner’s name? You be the judge. (Photo credit: AP). source
During an appearance on “Fox News Sunday,” host Chris Wallace asked Issa whether he had “any evidence” that the White House had been involved with the matter.
“No, we don’t,” Issa said.
The Justice Department’s Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms apparently allowed some gun sales in Arizona to known Mexican criminals. Two of the guns involved were found at the scene of a firefight in which U.S. Customs Agent Brian Terry was killed.
In February 2011, DOJ sent a letter to Congress denying such sales, but retracted that claim in December. It is not clear if either Attorney General Eric Holder or President Barack Obama were aware of the program, and Issa acknowledged Sunday that he has not found evidence Holder was involved.
“I did not say that Eric Holder always knew,” Issa said.
Issa previously suggested at a National Rifle Association conference that the Obama administration attempted to stir up controversy with Fast and Furious in an effort to push an assault rifle ban. This is despite the fact that the Bush administration, which opposed gun control, used similar programs.
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