John Boehner opened mouth and inserted foot in a spectacular fashion when he told Bloomberg that paying back China was a higher priority than paying the troops.
Video:
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Transcript:
Speaker Boehner: Our goal here is to get ourselves on a sustainable path from a fiscal standpoint. I think doing a debt prioritization bill makes it clear to our bondholders that we’re going to meet our obligations.
Peter Cook: Doesn’t it mean as Democrats have basically suggested, you’re choosing to pay China before U.S. troops?
Boehner: Listen. Those who have loaned us money, like in any other proceeding, if you will, court proceeding, the bondholders usually get paid first. Same thing here.
Cook: And you don’t worry about the politics of this?
Boehner: No. Not at all.
In the same interview, Boehner also claimed that Obama’s economic policies are preventing economic growth, “Republicans have a plan to get our economy going again, get wages growing again and get job opportunities growing again. Things like fixing our long-term spending problem, fixing our broken tax code to make America more competitive. How about expanding American energy production and the Keystone Pipeline? There are a lot of things. The red tape – in many cases, it’s the president’s own policies that are getting in the way of growing our economy.”
Republicans seem to be building on the apathy that they first displayed towards the troops during the Bush years. In fact, Boehner has moved on from apathy to flat out deprioritization. The Full Faith and Credit Act that House Republicans are pushing is all about priorities. If Republicans refuses to raise the debt ceiling and the nation defaults, the Full Faith and Credit Act would mandate that the Treasury Department pay the Chinese before they pay for things like national security, the military, and the troops.
It isn’t an exaggeration to say that this piece of legislation literally puts the Chinese government ahead of the troops in the battlefield.
The reality of the legislation is bad enough, but then John Boehner opened his mouth and dropped an atomic bomb on the Republican house of cards.
Behind the bluster, the Full Faith and Credit Act is nothing more than another House Republican threat to push the economy over the brink. As usual, House Republicans failed to think this through. Their threat has turned into a giant red, white, and blue club that Democrats are using to against them.
This bill is an insult to every active duty member of the military, and their families.
It’s clear that John Boehner isn’t just the worst House Speaker ever. He is also the Washington Generals of political strategists.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
