By

Jake Miller /

CBS News/ March 17, 2013, 1:21 PM

Boehner disagrees with "longtime ally" Portman on same-sex marriage

Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, is "a great friend, and a longtime ally," said House Speaker John Boehner on ABC's "This Week", but Portman's recent declaration of support for same-sex marriage has not softened Boehner's own opposition to marriage equality for gay couples.

Boehner, who served with Portman in the House between 1993 and 2005, said: "I appreciate that he's decided to change his views on this. But I believe that marriage is a union of a man and a woman."

"It's what I grew up with, it's what I believe, it's what my church teaches me," Boehner added. "I can't imagine that position would ever change."

Boehner also addressed the ongoing budget battle in Washington. Pressed on whether he agreed with President Obama's assertion that our debt crisis is not "immediate," but long term, Boehner conceded: "We do not have an immediate debt crisis, but we all know that we have one looming."

"Nobody knows where this is," he said. "It could be a year, two years, three years, four years. It's not an immediate problem."

The president's point, Boehner said, is that "we don't really need to do anything at this point. And I would argue that we need to do something."

"The president also said in that interview that his goal wasn't merely to balance the budget," he said. "He talks about a balanced plan. What's balanced about a budget that never gets to balance?"

Boehner again closed the door on more revenue as a component of deficit reduction, pushing instead for entitlement reform.

"The president got his tax hikes on January 1," he said. "The talk about raising revenue is over."

Instead, "we need to put the entitlement programs on a sustainable path," said Boehner, adding that otherwise, "they're going to go bankrupt."

© 2013 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.
52 Comments Add a Comment
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ce747 says:
Then Republicans wonder what they are doing wrong. Obama snapped this issue up and instantly won support from millions.
Get rid of Boehner for starters, then quite your whining.
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me_nz says:
This is becoz Boner is a 1 trick phoney. The only word me knows is NO. A true GOP stalwart As in stall everything, block everything, delay everything for as long as you can. Let's take us back to 1986 when Ronald was running the show and keep us there. Pretend the Bushes never happened.
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dionysusBeer says:
Fine, just another bigot who will go down in history next to those that were against interracial marriage. The push for equality cannot be stopped. Once the founding fathers let the genie of freedom and equality out of the bottle it became impossible to get it back inside, despite every bigot's best efforts.
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MaxyRaddy says:
For those who are truly struggling to be compassionate and fair, it's helpful to realize that the tears and emotional appeals of the homosexual agenda are all part of a focused, intentional marketing campaign designed to manipulate the public. "Gay rights" are not about equality. The homosexual agenda is about imposing a tolerance of sexual licentiousness on the American psyche and our culture. Go to any "gay pride" parade and just watch silently. It won't be about fairness and compassion. It will be about championing sexual gratification for its own sake.

This movement of manipulating the public sunk its root into American culture in the early 90's. The "bible" for the movement is called _After the Ball: How America Will Conquer its Fear and Hatred of Gays in the 90's_ by Kirk and Madsen. They're both marketing experts, by the way. The book is all about using AIDS and its tragic and ravaging effects to manipulate the emotions of Americans to see homosexuals as noble heroes. (The book is available on Amazon.)

Google "Moving Marriage Forward Building Majority Support for Marriage" and readers will find yet another marketing document from Freedom to Marry instructing homosexual agenda proponents on how to manipulate the emotions, compassion and good intentions of Americans.

It's one thing to tolerate deviant behavior and it's another thing to give it legal protection. Legal protected status necessarily excludes any ideology that conflicts with or opposes it. Therefore, giving homosexuality a protected status in American society makes /real/ marriage, a man and a woman bound together for life while being open to children, disenfranchised and without any legal protections. In essence, the family no longer exists in American culture.
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rzarc2 replies:
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Let me guess, you are conservative and religious. You are the one always preaching about your freedoms being taken away by our tyrannical government. In the same breath you are the very ones to use the same government and its power to take everyone's freedoms away if they don't believe what you believe.

I am a married man who raised 4 children with his wife and I don't feel the least bit threatened by gay marriage. Perhaps you are not so secure in your your marriage and/or beliefs?
Faithfulwatcher replies:
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Undeniably well stated. Thank you!
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Vetzero says:
The nation will go and do what they will about same sex marriage.

Eventually, the same sex measures will pass and the Supreme Court just might stike down DOMA on the Federal level, making all other laws in the states, null and void.

It's going to happen.

What the rest of us can do that are opposed to this...can...stop the progress of same sex marriage and same sex and sexual behavior at the Church door. Thus far, even with this new Catholic Pope, the Roman Catholic Church will continue to oppose it and there is nothing the Feds or anyone else can do about it. Gays are over=reaching if they think we're just going to sit back and watch them come right on in to the church and still practicing their sexuality with same sex partners. We're not going to put up with it. We won't allow the Holy Eucharist to be exposed to that. Call it what you will, we don't care. Don't like it ? Stay out, stay away. Plenty of other Protestant denominations that are taking into membership practicing homosexuals and same sex partners, some, willing to marry them in their own sanctuaries.
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rzarc2 replies:
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You have nothing to fear, the government is NOT going to step into your church and tell you and your fellow church members what to do.

Now do the rest of us a favor and keep you church out of OUR government and not tell the rest of us what we can do in the privacy of our bedrooms.
ce747 replies:
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That's funny you condem gays when there are so many gay priests in the Catholic Church lusting over little boys and probably each other if the truth is known.
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Pearleaf says:
I think gay people should be allowed to live with whatever adult they feel most comfortable with. However, I don't think gay people were ever particularly interested in getting married until now. As well, one cannot force people to accept the concept of gay marriage. People who are against it must never be called bigots.
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Think4times replies:
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One cannot force people to accept that marriage is only between a man and a woman.

Hows that for a spin?
linguist1 replies:
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I am a gay man.

With respect, the very first record that I ever asked my parents to buy for me was "Love and Marriage". I was six. ;-)

While it would be decades before I accepted the fact that I was gay, I held out hope for a long time that I wasn't, and that I would eventually marry a woman and live "happily ever after". I believed in that song.

Why wouldn't I? I grew up a part of my society, with the same set of beliefs as the people around me. And trust me: back then, NO ONE was talking about marriage equality for gay couples, including me. Back then, simply acknowledging one was gay meant risking everything-- potentially even one's freedom.

For a long period of my life, I just resigned myself to the notion that I would live my life alone. Then, I shifted to the position that I could live my life honorably and honestly by sharing it with someone I truly did love.

In more recent years, after much thought, introspection and discussion, I've come to the conclusion that marriage equality is not only fair, but completely reasonable.

The relevance of this story?


It wasn't that gay people were not particularly interested in getting married until now.

It's that it wasn't possible to say, "Why not marriage?" until one first was able to say, "I am gay, and I am going to live my life with the person I love, forever."

Peace.
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samXXkiley says:
coucou,
For once, the "No" of John Boehner is welcome, I applaud his determination, hoping he will not change his opinion too.
the unthinking decisions, will jeopardize the future of generations to come.
About debt, Republicans are also aware of the issues, a compromise will be found.
"au revoir"
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powder0008 says:
What does God say about hypocrisy?
Why don't fundamentalists organize protests and picket seafood restaurants, oyster bars, church barbecue suppers, all grocery stores, barber shops, tattoo parlors, and stores that sell suits and dresses made of mixed wool, cotton, polyester, and other materials? All of these products and services are "abominations" in Leviticus. When have you heard a preacher condemn the demonic abomination of garments that are made of mixed fabrics?
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Faithfulwatcher replies:
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The mixing of fabrics was not an abomination but rather a warning that cotton and wool, which is all they had in ancient times, would shrink and or lose shape and not be able to be worn. After all, there was no GAP or Miller's Outpost back then where you could easily replace your garments.Please see Deuteronomy 22:11, "You must not wear mixed stuff of wool and linen together."

As far as the mixed seeds, God created all food perfectly and each genus or kind were designed for specific health benefits to our bodies. If you mix seeds or combine them or change them in any way, they are no longer perfect; they are defiled and now will not bring about the health benefits they were designed for and are actually harming our bodies. Check out the disease rate at the World Health Organization website. Genetically modified organisms are definitely an abomination, because they inhibit our perfectly designed immune system, bringing about disease and death.
powder0008 replies:
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So the bible is opened to interpretation and what was relevant in ancient time may not be today.
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Faithfulwatcher says:
I haven't had much respect for Boehner in the past but I can't help but respect him now; now that he has the courage and the fortitude to stand by his convictions and the very law of God.
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Vetzero replies:
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Yup, once in awhile John Boehner gets one right.

This is one of those times.

Economics is a different story.

He's getting too many wrong in that category.

The poor suffer because of him and his kind.
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powder0008 says:
Why does the state recognizes marriage in the first place? If civil unions, for legal reasons are necessary and separate but equal won't work, then the only conclusion I come to, is marriage should only be defined and recognized by religion.
Will the nation be punished if it recognizes the inequality of the sodomites? Should the homosexual be stoned to death in fear of the wrath of god? If sexuality is more complex then law can define and the majority is comfortable with confronting, do we ignore it until we become more enlightened? Sorry the world is just not ready for equality! Is a lack of imagination really a lack of empathy?
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